The Unknown Adventures
by AndiKaneUnderwood
Summary: Okay, so, here's the run down. An alternative universe where the Avengers are in their teenage years and living together. Any lovers and/or other people will also be included. Pairings including but not limited to: Clintasha, Thor/Jane, Steve/Tony, Simmons/Fitz, Lincoln/Daisy, possible Coulson/May, Ben/Reed, and gender-bending.
1. Meeting Nathan Romanoff

Meeting Nathan Romanoff

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

Captain America: Stephanie Rogers/Steph

Iron Woman: Toniya Stark/Toni

Hulk: Bethany Banner/Beth

Hawkeye: Clarissa Barton/Claire or (Only Nathan) Rissa

Black Widow: _**Nataton Romanova**_ Nathaniel Romanoff/Nathan or (Only Clarissa) Nate

It was a dark, cold September night and all was peaceful, perhaps a bit too quiet.

A shadow moves in the dark, moving fast and moving silently. The shadow stops when a light passes over it from overhead, but once the light has passed, the shadow moved on.

 _This is the place._ The shadow thought, coming up on an old building. It slipped inside, a glint in its eyes, and looked around for a place to hide.

"You know, most assassins know immediately when someone's been following them. You must be new." The shadow startled as the lights were turned on, revealing a blonde girl with blue-grey eyes leaning against a doorway in the corner of the room.

The shadow, a fifteen year old male with close cropped red hair and emerald eyes, turned and raised an eyebrow at the blonde, giving her a quick once-over.

Her mid-back length blonde hair was pulled back in a low braid and her blue-grey eyes held amusement and caution. There was a bow and quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder, the bow crossing her left shoulder to lower right side and the quiver strap crossing her right shoulder to lower left side, a gun holster was strapped to her thigh, and the outline of a knife sheath attached to the inside of both boots.

"So, you wanna tell me what you're here for?" the blonde girl, because she can't be any more than fifteen herself, getting up off the wall and coming closer.

The red-head male watched the blonde warily. "They may not have told me you were coming, but I knew you were there." he replied.

The blonde raised a neat eyebrow. "Did you?" She asked. "Well, it doesn't matter. I've been sent to kill you."

"You'll have difficulty accomplishing that." The redhead promised.

"I know, so I came to offer you a deal." The blonde smiled, shifting so close the male can smell earth, hay, and sugar coming off the female and combining to make a new scent the green eyed teen found himself getting addicted to. The redhead gave himself a mental slap. _Stay focused, Romanoff._ He berated himself.

"Here you are. The infamous Black Widow." The blonde slowly began walking around Romanoff, circling him. "Unstoppable. Expert marksman. Never had a mission that you couldn't complete. My orders upon coming here where to subdue you and kill you. I don't think that's what's going to hap- Oh, _shit_!" The blonde hissed, suddenly falling to her knees clutching her stomach.

In the same moment, Romanoff's target came through the door, spotted the pair, and yelled for security.

A sweet smell perfumed the air and something inside of Romanoff stirred. _Oh._ _ **Oh**_ _._ _ **Shit**_ _._ He had to make sure. The redheaded male moved closer to the pain filled blonde. "What's wrong?" he asked.

The blue-grey eyed girl whimpered. "Please." She cried softly and Romanoff felt his heart ache for her. "Please help me. M-my Heat." That was all she managed before dissolving into more whimpers, harsh panting, and gasping breaths, like she couldn't get in enough air, and Romanoff swore his heart _broke_ at the pleading tone of her voice.

He shook his head. What in the nine Hells had possessed him? He was the Black Widow for land's sake. He shouldn't feel bad for this blonde teenager, he'd just barely met! But as he looked down at the poor Omega teen, her bangs plastered to her forehead as beads of sweat rolled down her face, her cheeks flushed, but her skin pale, pink lips parted with her heavy breathing, he couldn't find it within him not to care about her.

"Alright, now, listen to me, before I lose you here and now. What's your name, Omega?" He allowed his voice to go deeper, become more instinctual, and be rougher

A visible shudder passed through the blonde teen's body. "C-Clarissa Barton. Please help me, Alpha."

"Shh, it's okay. My name is Nathan Romanoff. I'll take care of you." Nathan soothed the blonde gently, hardly sparing a glance at his still screaming target. His head snapped up at the sound of feet running up the hall. When four guards burst into the room, Nathan felt a growl bubble up in his throat at the sight of the guns. The redhead moved to shield Clarissa's body from the cool metal in the guards' hands. "You won't hurt her." he snapped, hearing soft whimpers of pain from behind him.

There was a muffled _thud_ and a quick glance backwards told Nathan that the blonde Omega had fallen to the floor, resting on her side and the scent in the air intensified. _Alpha,_ _ **please**_ _._ Rang through the air, but Nathan was sure he was the only one who heard. He registered what that meant with a quick pang in his chest.

"SHIELD Security, back away from the girl!" demanded an older, maybe late thirties-early forties, man.

 _Hold on a bit longer, Omega. I'll get you to my home. I'll take care of you._ Nathan promised. Out loud, he repeated. "You won't hurt her." He growled. In a smooth movement, he turned (barely taking his eyes from the guards) and leaned down, picking up Clarissa bridal style.

She whimpered again, curling up tightly. _Shh… hush now, it's alright._ The blonde girl quieted.

Nathan growled. "Do. **Not**. Follow." He snapped sharply, and then he was gone as quickly as he appeared.

"Sir, I thought Agent Barton's heat wasn't due until next week?" asked one guard as guns were lowered.

The lead agent nodded. "And her Heat is like clockwork too. _Damn_."

Nathan sighed, rubbing a gentle hand over Clarissa's side. The blonde girl was currently stripped of her heavy, constricting SHIELD gear (all of it folded up neatly in the other room with her knives, gun, and her bow and arrows set on top) and wearing one of Nathan's old t-shirts and a loose pair of sweat-shorts with her hair pulled from its braid. She was sleeping now, the heat coming off of her dulled down to gentle waves.

The ability to hear an Omega's/Alpha's voice in your head was only mentioned between SoulMates. If what Nathan had heard about SoulMates was true, then this beautiful blonde teenager was his SoulMate. The Red Room had told him that he didn't have a SoulMate, that none of the boys in the program did. They had evidently lied. Nathan wasn't going to make Clarissa turn to the dark side and the Red Room wouldn't have use for her anyway. They'd probably kill her and Nathan couldn't have that.

Narrowed green eyes pierced the wall and Nathan clenched his free hand into a fist. As if she could sense his anger, Clarissa's blue-gray eyes fluttered open. "Mmm… Alpha?" She asked drowsily, not entirely awake.

"Shh… hush now, Omega. You're okay." Nathan promised, carding his hand through her hair again and running the other down her side. "Just go back to sleep."

Clarissa's eyes slid shut again as she drifted back to sleep and Nathan grinned lightly. None of the Omega boys in the program lasted very long, but if they did last long enough for their Heats, they had never acted like _that_. Had he found Clarissa's Soft Points?

Nathan sighed again. If he couldn't have Clarissa come with him, then she would go with her. He'd join SHIELD, use his skills for good. He'd be with Clarissa.

The female Omega whimpered in her sleep and Nathan hushed her softly, one hand returning to her side as the other continued to run through her head. The redhead hummed a lullaby he faintly remembered an older grey haired man sing to him when he was young. Yes, SHIELD. Nathan could work for SHIELD.

"Alpha?" Clarissa mumbled, eyes fluttering open again an hour later. The blue-grey orbs were clearer than they'd been the last five hours they'd been there. The blonde looked around. "Why doesn't this surprise me?" She mumbled to herself, looking down at the clothes she was wearing.

"You're awake." came the voice from her left.

Clarissa didn't sit up, instead turning her head. The Black Widow was standing in the doorway. "And that doesn't surprise me nearly as much as it should. It's Nathan right? Nathan Romanoff?"

Nathan nodded, pleased she'd remembered. "Good, you remembered. You were in a lot of pain when I brought you here."

"How long have I been here?"

"A little over five hours."

"Five hours! Have you contacted Director Fury?" Clarissa panicked, shooting up right in the bed, her breathing got heavier.

Then there was a gentle hand at her shoulder, pushing her back against the bed. "Hey, hey. Easy Omega. Your director was notified by the agents that followed me. Coulson, I think."

Another wave of heat passed over her and she curled in on herself with a moan. " _Ow_." She whimpered.

A strange sensation dragged across her side and she felt her muscles involuntarily relax. "Easy, Clarissa. Don't want the next wave to hit early."

Clarissa shivered. "I heard your voice. In my head." She panted.

Nathan sat at the edge of the bed. "I heard yours too."

"This _might_ be my Heat talking, but I  really want you to mark me."

"I really want to mark you, but I don't want you doing something you'll end up regretting." Nathan replied.

Sweet chocolate perfumed the air, accompanied by the smell of cherry blossoms and Earth. Somehow, it smelt amazing despite the fact that those smells didn't go together at all.

Clarissa whimpered, warmth crawling up her skin. "Please, Alpha, please." She gasped. "I'll be good. I promise I will."

Nathan went back to stroking Clarissa's side. "Is this your first Heat?" He asked. When she didn't answer, too lost in pleasure of the hand at her side, he growled sharply. "Answer me, Omega." He hissed.

Clarissa shivered again. "No, Alpha." She gasped. "I presented at 13."

"Did anyone take care of you during your Heats?"

"No, Alpha." Clarissa whimpered, her hips bucking slightly.

Nathan noticed, climbing onto the bed and straddling the blonde's hips, hands moving to rub at her sides once more.

Feather light touches and gentle caresses no heavier than a butterfly's wing sent shivers up Clarissa's spine. Nathan leaned in close, his lips only a hair's breadth from hers. "I need to know you want this. Not because your Heat demands it, but because you genuinely need it. Is your head clear? I want the truth."

"T-truth?" Clarissa asked, pink lips parted with her pants. "I wanted you to mark me the second I saw you. It took everything in me not to beg at your feet." She replied.

Nathan smirked as her blue-grey eyes glazed over, the pupils dilating so only the _slimmest_ ring of color sat at the edges, and her Heat took control. "Who am I, Omega?" he growled.

Clarissa whimpered and a new wave of the blonde teen's scent hit the air alongside a new heat. "My Alpha." she replied, voice soft but clear.

"Good girl." Nathan captured Clarissa's lips with his own and fireworks exploded all over his skin, leaving behind a pleasant tingle that traveled from his head to his feet.

Clarissa whine, honest-to-God _whined_ , parting her lips to accept Nathan's tongue. The blonde moaned softly against the redhead's lips.

Nathan pulled back, stripping himself of his excess clothing as the heat from the blonde teen transferred to him, leaving himself in a white tank top and boxers. As he climbed back up to straddle Clarissa he leaned in close. "Do not. Hold back. Your sounds. Understood?" He asked, voice authoritative and a tad bit harsh.

Clarissa nodded fervently, looking desperate. "Yes, Alpha."

Nathan smirked. "Good girl. Up!" He snapped, pulling away from her.

The blonde girl was scrambling to obey before her mind could register the command, the Heat scrambling her mind and making it run a bit slower than usual. She nearly fell, her scatterbrained mind making her sharp reflexes slower, but Nathan caught her. He smiled softly, touching the tip of his nose gently to hers. "Careful Rissa. I don't want my Omega getting hurt." He purred.

"Nate…" Clarissa panted. "Yes Alpha."

"Alpha," Nathan rolled that around his tongue, "I could get used to that." He smile was feral and another shudder traveled up Clarissa's spine.

When Clarissa woke a few days later, arms woven tightly around Nathan's, which were wrapped around her waist to draw her to his chest, there was a dull, satisfied feeling in her body that chased away the loneliness usually found after her Heats.

She stretched out slowly, a yawn rolling off her tongue. "Mm." She snuggled back against Nathan's chest, clear blue-grey eyes slipping shut.

"And good morning to you too." Came the voice being her.

A fair blush spread across her cheeks. "Hi." She spoke softly.

"Hi." Nathan leaned over her. "As good as you look in that blush, don't be embarrassed Rissa."

" _Rissa_?" Clarissa asked. "Where'd that come from?"

Nathan smirked, straddling the blonde again and leaning down to her ear. "Tell me Omega…" he whispers seductively. "Which do you prefer? Clarissa? Or Rissa?"

The blonde shivered. "Rissa's fine. You won't mind Nate, will you?" She asked.

"Mmm…" The ginger teen pressed his lips to hers. "Nate suits me just fine." Pulling back, he attached his mouth to her Mating Mark at the junction where her shoulder met her neck.

Rissa moaned softly, Nate didn't have to work too hard to make them louder. He nipped at the mark drawing a yelp from the body beneath him. He chuckled darkly. "I'm going to have so much fun with you." He mumbled.

 _The feeling's mutual Alpha_.


	2. Widow, Hawk, Cap, Iron, Thunder

Widow, Hawk, Cap, Iron, Thunder

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

Natasha Romanoff was little when she was training in the Red Room. She finished her training early, but SHIELD bust her out before they could commence with their operation. Ever since, the 15 year old had been living with SHIELD and was a member of a program they where starting called the Avengers program.

Her partner, on actual missions and training simulations, was an 80% deaf, 15 year old, former circus boy named Clinton "Clint" Barton. Clint had what was called "accuracy enhancement", which meant he could hit any target, even if he wasn't looking at it. He used to be a knife thrower, but his hearing impediment made it hard for him to stay. So SHIELD took him in and paired him with Natasha.

Steve Rogers had been drafted into the army at 18. When taking the serum that turned him into a super soldier, something went wrong. The serum worked, but it made him sick. He had to take a pill and the army couldn't have people with handicaps in their ranks. SHIELD found him and set him up with the Avengers.

Tony Stark had an accident when he was younger, so he had some metal in his chest that desperately tried to make his heart stop. He had a medical problem, so doctor did what doctors do. They fixed it. Now the object in his chest that protects his heart, also protects his body. 16 year old, Tony Stark became Iron Man. SHIELD found him right of the bat. It was hard to ignore the burns in the billboards saying "Iron Man was here."

Thor was... a special case. His father had sent him to Earth to... train per-say. He needed experience in a lower status. So Odin called up Fury, and asked him to make sure Thor for the training he needed, and experience with a lower standing field. He was "drafted" to the Avengers Program at 17, only going if Loki (his younger by two years) came with him.

The five of them where the first Avengers. More soon followed. 14 year old Daniel "Danny" Rand, Lucas "Luke" Cage (15), Ava Ayala(17), Peter Parker (16), Sam Alexander (15), T'Challa (19) Bucky Barns (18), Pietro and Wanda Maximoff (both 17), and so many other, but those 5 that started it all where the honorary members.

The Widow, the Hawk, the Cap, the Iron, and the Thunder.


	3. Snowman

Snowman

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

Natasha had been in her room all day. Clint was getting tired of it. So he waited until the snow was a couple feet deep outside, then went and knocked on her door

"Hey, Tasha?" _He loved that he was the only one able to get away with calling her that._ Clint knocked on the door again. "You wanna build a snowman?" He asked.

"No," was the curt response from behind the door. Nat must be having a bad day. Or having nightmares again, nightmares where more common.

So Clint sighed, walking away a couple feet. He then came back and kicked the door in. "Natasha! We're building a fucking snowman!" He yelled. _He also took pleasure in the fact that he could get away with things like this too._

Natasha looked up from her diary, a red eyebrow cocked. Then she started laughing. Clint took the opportunity to grab her coat and snow boots and lead her to the door. She shoved her feet into the boots, still giggling, while Clint helped her into her jacket.

Clint laughed. "That funny, huh?" He asked the younger 15 year old. Natasha giggled again and nodded.

They spent the majority of the rest of the day building snowmen, snow-hawks, and snow-widows, making snow angels, laughing, chasing each other with snow balls, pelting each other with handfuls of snow flung over the walls of snow forts, and wondering why they'd never done this before.

When the day was over, they curled up on the couch with frozen hands being warmed by cups of steaming, hot cocoa. Clint had buried the both of them beneath twenty blankets and Natasha laid her head on Clint's shoulder.

Their night ended with mugs set on the counter and Natasha laying on Clint, her head glued over his chest so she could hear his heartbeat, and Clint lying on the couch.

Tony, Steve, Bruce Banner (17), and Thor all took pictures and then left them alone. The couple on the couch where left to their thought and dreams of snowflakes, snow balls, and snowmen.


	4. Plan B

Plan B

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

It was just a joke. Something for fun when they where bored sitting in a jail cell waiting for Fury to pick them up.

 _"So, do you think we should come up with a plan B?" Clint asked, humor leaking through his serious façade._

 _Natasha looked at him with the same expression, then nodded. "I've got the perfect one too."_

 _"Enlighten me, Widow."_

 _"How badly is your hearing screwed up?" The redhead 15-year old asked, pointing to the hearing aids no one notices. Well, almost no one. Natasha always noticed._

 _"Eighty percent in both ears, why?" The blonde with blue-grey eyes replied_

 _Natasha smirked. "Plan B." She said._

 _Clint suddenly understood and smirked along with her. "Oh, I got it."_

Over time, it became a reality. Like today. They'd been chased by HYDRA soldiers. Black Widow had attempted to contact Captain America or Fury, but it didn't work well. The only response they received was static.

Hawkeye nearly ripped out his hearing aids in agitation, but refrained in favor of nocking another arrow and shooting another soldier in the leg.

The soldier cried out in pain and then got up and kept coming. Hawkeye groaned and bolted after Black Widow. "These guys just keep coming." He yelled to her.

She nodded. "There's more. Hey, get out of the way! Move it! Go, go, go!" She shouted, waving her arms at people on the streets.

Hawkeye sent another arrow flying, skidding back a few feet and landing in a crouched position. Two more followed the first and then he took off running again. "Move it, go!" People cleared a path for them and scrambled out of the way.

They lost the soldiers in the streets and managed to make it to the rendezvous point. Both where breathing heavily and panting harshly. Then sirens penetrated the air. Hawkeye groaned. "Not _again."_ He sighed.

Black Window groaned between pants. "Okay, Clint. You know the drill. Plan B, you're deaf and I don't speak English." She told her partner.

So Clint reached up and carefully removed his hearing aids, then signed that he was ready to Black Widow. She nodded and both hid any weapons they had in plain sight.

When the police picked them up, Clint just stared at them blankly, signing the same phrase again and again, and Natasha just started rambling on in Russian, asking what was going on and why there where strange people trying to put metal on her wrists.

The cops just looked at them strangely. Then one looked at another and called for him to get a translator. " _Chto ty delayesh_ *****?" Natasha repeated over and over.

The cops finally got a translator. No one saw Natasha smirk at her partner or Clint's answering smile as he signed something to her. She laughed softly and answered in Romanian.

The cops let them off with a warning and they laughed about it all the way back to the rendezvous spot. Cap and Iron Man picked them up. Clint put his hearing aids back in and looked expectantly at Tony for an explanation.

Tony just shrugged. "We where held up. They jammed the frequencies."

Natasha rolled her eyes and started up to the Hellicarrier. Clint flicked Tony's shoulder and followed her. Tony looked at Steve. Captain America just shrugged. "Don't look at me, they confuse the Hell out of me just by having mental conversations."

Tony just sighed and followed Clint and Natasha back to the Hellicarrier.

 ***What are you doing?**


	5. Thor v Them

Thor v Them

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

Jane had to admit. Dating a _superhero_ was nerve racking. Dating a _god._ Thor was a Norse god. That alone was terrifying.

They weren't without their fights of course. Thor was often called away on missions and it sometimes made Jane feel unloved and underappreciated, which in turn made Thor angry. Jane shouldn't feel unworthy. She should feel _beautiful._

But of course, they also had their quirks. Thor was unlike any guy she'd ever met or had the pleasure (sarcasm noted) of dating.

Thor had a sort of poptart fetish and he didn't really understand Earth customs. Evident by the fact that the first time they'd met, she accidentally run over him twice, then taken him out for food, where he'd asked for more coke by smashing his class on the floor.

Then when they'd started dating after he'd protected her town and friends from his brother Loki, another Norse god, she had to admit he was alot stranger than she'd though. After all, the first time she'd been told by him she was beautiful... Well, it went sort of like this.

 _Avengers~Avengers~Avengers_

"Jane! You have come!" Thor called excitedly, pulling out the chair across from him for the skinny brunette to sit in. "I was told this is customary for a man to do with a girl he likes. Is it good?" He asked hopefully, sitting back down.

Jane smiled. "Yes, thank you." She smiled.

Thor visibly relaxed. "I've ordered a drink called 'tea' for us. I've been told it's your favorite." He informed her.

Jane's smile widened. "Yes, thank you. That's sweet of you." She replied.

The blond reached up and ran a hand through his gold locks, a clear sign he was nervous. "So tell me about yourself. I'd like to know everything." He smiled nervously.

They talked all night long. Finally, when Thor took her home. He pecked her on the lips and whispered. "You're face. I like it." Just for old times sake.

When he left, Jane just stood there and laughed.

Because, God, dating a hero was nerve wracking, but she wouldn't have it any other way.


	6. Find Natasha

Find Natasha

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

When the Avengers went out, they usually split up. It was often difficult to find everyone in the short time frame they had. So if he couldn't find the 15 year old Black Window, Steve knew _exactly_ what to do.

 _Avengers~Avengers~Avengers_

Natasha wasn't any where to be found and Steve had literally searched the whole store. The toys, the hunting department, the grocery store, and just about everywhere else.

Finally he got tired of looking. "This calls for drastic measures." He mumbled, already regretting what he would have to do. Steve cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled as loud as he could. "Hawkeye is _worthless!"_ He shouted it so loud, he was fairly certain that _Canada_ had heard him.

Two seconds later he found Clint Barton standing right next to him and about three seconds from screaming back. "The _fuck_ you just say?" He growled.

Steve simply picked up another can and said. "Hey, Clint, go find Natasha." He glanced down at the archer and hid a smile.

Clint pushed put a breath through his nose and nodded. "I'll be right back."

Three minutes later, Steve was smacked across the head and yelled at in Russian. Clint, Tony, and Thor just stood there and laughed.


	7. Jump

Jump

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

Clint was ready. And he'd have done it too. He would've jumped right out of that plane if the voice coming through the headphones hadn't stopped him.

So he looked around and spotted Cap. "Cap, you see Nat?" He asked, looking around to see if he couldn't find his redheaded Russian.

"Get back to base." Cap replied curtly.

" _Do you have eyes on Nat_!" He yelled, fully prepared to eject from the plane and go looking for the 15 year old himself.

"Get back to base!" Steve snapped back. Then he sighed. "Ultron got her. We'll get her back Barton." He promised.

Then the voice in his headphones appeared. He relaxed and sighed. He had to trust them. So he turned the Jump Jet around and drove back to base with the voice still ringing in his ears.

 _Don't freak out I'm fine._

 _I'm playing damsel in distress for awhile. Don't try to save me I'll see what I can get off him and then you come and get me. Got it?_

 _I'll be fine. Trust me. I love you._


	8. Avengers

Avengers

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

"Are we really gonna ignore the fact that Steve just said 'Language'?"

"Sorry it just slipped out."

"But you still said it."

"Tony, I said I was sorry, would you let it go already?"

"Ooh, going all _Captain_ on my ass? Bold move Rogers."

"Don't do this now, Stark, we're in the middle of a mission, for Heaven's sake."

"I'll do this whenever I want to do this, _Captain,_ you may be the leader but you don't control me."

 ***Powerful blasts and cracks and booms***

"Stark, you shouldn't do that."

"Do what?"

 ***more blasts***

"Do that!"

"Rogers, I swear to God-"

"Oh my God, you all are so immature!"

"Like you're any better, Widow?"

"Hawkeye I swear to God, if you don't shut up, you'll-"

"Be in the doghouse for a week, yeah, I know."

"You four should really focus on the HYDRA shooting at you."

"Stay out of this Thor!"

"Don't go bringing him into this, Stark, you know exactly what happened."

"You stole my last piece, Rogers and you didn't even say sorry! What kind of heartless bastard does that?"

"Language!"

"Oh and _here we go again_!"

 ***Tony and Steve continue on in the background***

"Oh dear God they're gonna go all night!"

"You wanna drown them out later with freaky ass movie that scares the shit out of you?"

"I like the way you think, Hawkeye."

"My pleasure Widow. Watch your left!"

 ***Twang* *Smack* *Thud***

"Thanks, Barton."

"Anytime, Romanoff."

"Now let's take out the trash!"

 ***Meanwhile inside the HYDRA base***

"Who is it?"

"Sir, it's the Avengers."

"Hold them."

"... It's the _Avengers!_ "


	9. Panic

Panic

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

Jemma remembered the first time she met Leo.

He was 11 and full of life, all vibrant and colorful and just _brimming_ with ideas and insights and he wanted to know everything.

When Jemma was 11, she followed him everywhere because he was going places and he knew where he wanted to go and even though he was Omega (a more recently presented one) Jemma would followed him where ever he went, not because of his intoxicating scent (though that was certainly a plus), but because he was kind.

And the world needed _kind._

 _AoS~AoS~AoS_

She felt the panic at the back of her mind while she was rearranging some of May's files.

It was hard to ignore, really. First the panic, then the feeling of forced calm. From what she could feel through the Bond (and what she knew about the mission), Leo was out in the woods somewhere with Daisy and had just recently been through something traumatic.

Low level traumatic, but traumatic just the same.

She felt him prod at the Bond between them and she set aside her previous priority to focus on her _first_ priority (because Leo _always_ came first, no matter what).

 _What is it, Leo? What do you need?_

 _I've been hurt._ Was all that was said.

Jemma pushed aside her negative feelings and put herself out there in the field with her Omega.

 _Talk me through this, Leo, what's happening?_ She asked.

 _They modified the imploding gel projectiles in their guns. I've been hit with one. It hurts._ Leo murmured back.

Jemma focused hard, this was a difficult thing to do, and only SoulMates could do it, but with a bit of patience, she could see what Leo saw.

Daisy sat next to him, talking to him frantically. Mack was nowhere to be found, he'd probably gone after the man that had shot Leo. _I'm here._ She whispered.

 _It hurts. Alpha, please, it_ hurts.

 _Shh. Shh, it's okay, I've got you._ Jemma brushed her fingertips over the back of his neck and pressed her hand to his cheek. _I'm here, I'm right here._ She promised.

She felt the tension melt away under her touch. She felt the _forced_ calm bleed away to relaxed, but reluctant calm. She felt his slight smile under her fingertips and Jemma smiled in return as his eyes met hers.

She pulled away some of the pain, taking it and making it her own. Jemma held back her pain as Alphas had tendency to do. _Better?_ She asked, tilting his head to better see the gel the men had shot, as his crystal blue eyes fell closed, relief coursing through his veins.

 _Much. Thank you, Jemma._ He whispered through their Bond.

She nodded to him, seeing his crystal eyes flutter back open. _I have to get back to filing for May, but I promise, I'm still here._ She told him.

He nodded in response and she let herself be drawn back to her own head. She didn't let herself retract from the Bond, knowing that if she did then all the pain she'd taken from him would be transferred right back.

With that in mind, she split her focus into two different levels and set the second level to hard files and the first to the attachment between Leo's mind and hers.

AoS~AoS~AoS

When she finally saw him again, after everything had gone down, she found herself pulling him closer and hugging him hard.

"How'd you get it off?" She asked, knowing it hadn't been painless.

She'd felt his spike of pain as sure as she'd felt the first. It was easy for her to tune into his emotions, they'd been together for almost four years now. Even without the advantage of being Bonded, she knew exactly what he was feeling.

"Liquid nitrogen from the Inhuman Containment Pod." Leo replied, tilting his head to the side to show her the markings left behind.

She examined the black, ashen marks left behind. The skin beneath was angry and red. She gently brushed over it with steady hands, not surprised when her Omega let a soft moan slip passed his lips.

Jemma's fingers retracted and were replaced to fit on the back of his neck. "Come now. We'd better clean that up. I'll take your vitals and make sure there are no consequences to being hit with the gel."

Leo nodded and Jemma took his hand, leading him back to the lab.

AoS~AoS~AoS

 _Jemma didn't believe it when they told her._

 _She_ couldn't.

 _She could still feel the vibrancy of life in her mind, could still feel him._

 _She didn't understand._

 _The body bag was brought before her for examination, so she could find out what killed him._

 _She didn't want to open it._

 _Her hand shook as they took the handles and set them apart, letting them hang off the sides of that awful black material. The one that had held too many of her friends. Too many of her family._

 _She let a tear slip passed her strong façade, but that was it. She wiped it away, feeling the last tendrils of his life slip away from her mind._

 _She wouldn't let herself cry. Not until she knew for sure it was him._

 _Not until_ she'd _confirmed the death herself._

 _She took the zipper and slowly pulled it down, not opening the bag until it hit the edge of the table at the bottom of the black bag._

 _Hands trembling and eyes filling with tears, she slowly took the flaps and drew them to the sides._

 _The face below was pale and cold, the crystal blue eyes where dull and lifeless. The hands that rarely ever stopped moving where stiff and still, there was no movement from the never stopping, always going mind._

 _The body below her was as familiar as her own, but she didn't recognize it, the skin had to be stitched back together. There were new scars where smooth skin had once been. The scars where jagged but the wounds clean, as if the body had_ literally _been blown apart._

 _The body below her was her own Mate and Jemma's hands flew to her mouth as a scream tore itself from her throat._

Jemma's snapped open with a gasp.

Bolting up from her laying down position, she looked around frantically, her eyes desperate and searching.

There was a soft sound from the other side of the bed and a creak as the body there turned. "Jemma?" Asked a sleep laden voice.

A hand reached out along the sheets and Jemma breathed out a sigh of relief, feeling his hand connect to hers. "What's wrong?"

His accent was thick and she found herself comforted by the unusual occurrence. She laid back as Leo slid up closer. "It's just a nightmare, Leo."

"'Bout what?" He asked through a yawn.

"Nothing. I'm alright. Go back to sleep." She tells him gently, pushing herself towards him to take position as his pillow.

He murmurs under his breath, about nightmares and stubborn Alphas, but obeys and gets comfortable, falling back asleep in moments.

Jemma sighs and breathe in his scent, her nose nuzzling into his hair.

Her panic days were over.

Leo's where too.

The both where _safe._


	10. They'll Never Find The Body

They'll Never Find The Body

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

Lance Hunter was an amazing person and an amazing Omega.

Barbra "Bobbi" Morse knew this better than anyone in the world. Lance was _her_ Omega, after all.

The only problem was, Lance was also a very handsome and beautiful person, and everyone knew that, Mack and Isabelle both had told her that in another time, they would've snapped the scrawny Omega up and rode off into the sunset.

The only reason they didn't wasn't because Bobbi got to him first. It was because of the way Lance talked about Bobbi, the way his eyes would light up when she walked into a room. How he was hesitant to do dangerous things without her watching his back, unless it was to protect their extensive pack.

It was in the way he threw back his shots after a fight with his Alpha, the sorrow in his eyes and the tremble in his hands that he couldn't hide. It was in the way he looked at her, like Bobbi was the only thing in the world that mattered to him. The fact that no matter how upset Lance was with her, he would never let his eyes wander to another woman, he'd never let another Alpha try and draw him into bed, and he never wanted to spend his Heats with anyone other than Bobbi.

And who was Bobbi to not do the same things. Her Omega had faith in her to stay loyal, she had faith in him to do the same. She'd be an idiot to let him walk out of her life without putting up a fight and she wasn't so stupid.

 _AoS~_ _AoS~_ _Ao_ S

It wasn't hard to pretend to be a married couple on their honeymoon. They'd done it before, they both knew the stories.

Lance would constantly tell their captors that they where looking for mushrooms, Bobbi would back him up with the story that they where camping, high school sweethearts.

Lance wasn't happy to go with then, spouting nonsense about mushrooms and soup and " _they_ _where_ _human_ _,_ _they_ _had_ _rights_ ", just as Bobbi knew he would.

Bobbi was just thankful that Lance's Heat was a month away, as he'd just come off his most recent one.

As the man talking to her interrogated them, she was also grateful Lance was with S.T.R.I.K.E. for all those years, because they would've taught him how to resist torture and deal with interrogation.

"Did you kill this man?" The Russian asked Bobbi.

The blonde was tired, she'd been interrogated all night. She didn't think. She put him in danger.

"So your husband did?"

The question startled her, she froze, didn't speak up quick enough.

"No, you're not understanding."

"Well, that's a confession." The man continued as if she hadn't spoken. "In that case, we can take him for a trial and try him for murder, first degree."

Bobbi's anger at being taken for a fool began to show through, but she kept her concern carefully hidden back in the deep corners of her mind that only Lance knew about and could touch.

" _You_ _can't_ _do_ _that_!" Her voice came out loud, demanding, and forceful to this Alpha man.

He leaned in close with a smirk on his face. "Watch me. Even the most hardened of criminals have a weakness. Your weakness is him." He chuckled darkly and Bobbi got the feeling that Russian prisons weren't so kind to innocent Omegas. Even if they _where_ Bonded.

 _Bobbi_ _!_ _Don't_ _say_ _anything_ _!_ _Don't_ _tell_ _them_ _anything_ _!_ Hunter's voice pushed into her mind, flooding the Bond with panic and pain.

Bobbi's vision went red. "Let. Him. Go." She growled.

There was a clang and suddenly her hands where free from the desk. The man looked worried, backing away from her with fear written in his eyes.

Her fangs flashed and he knew he'd fucked up. Only a SoulMate could trigger an Alpha's _True_ _Alpha_ _Rage_. He'd fucked up _bad_.

Her eyed narrowed like a scope on a target, her nail sharpened and he screamed.

Guards came running in but it was too late, Bobbi had thrown him to the wall, knocking him unconscious in the process, and broken out of the room.

 _AoS~_ _AoS~Ao_ S

She ran down the halls, scenting the air and tasting his heavy smell of beer, flames, and woods on her tongue.

She didn't know what she was doing here. She didn't know why, but she knew her Omega was in trouble and she had to get him out.

She felt him before she saw him. Felt his panic at what was happening. Felt how scared he was. When she rounded the corner, she found him.

He displayed all the visual signs for fear. His eyes where wide, darting, looking for an escape. He struggled against his captors, feet dragging in an attempt to slow them, to buy himself more time. His body was tensed, muscled bunched, but also limp to slow his captors, to make himself heavier.

He was afraid. She could smell his fear as it rolled off his body in waves a pure desperation.

He was desperate. The darting eyes and frantic movements told her all she needed to know about that.

Her eyes narrowed sharply as he cried out, pain lacing his eyes as the guards gripped his arms in a painfully tight grip.

His cries reached her ears, but the guards demands did not.

They looked fearful.

They should have looked _terrified_.

Her growls filled the corridor, bouncing off the walls and amplifying by 100.

The men ran away screaming. All except one, who held on to her Omega's arms.

She stalked closer. Her growls finally reached his ears and his knees turned to jello, but he couldn't run. She leaned down close, whispering sharply in his ears.

 _"_ _If_ _you've_ _hurt_ _him_ _._ _They'll_ _never_ _find_ _the_ _body_ _."_

Just like that he fell to the ground with a whimper. His eyes rolled back in his head and he fell unconscious.

She turned to her distressed Mate and her eyes turned worried. He flew into her arms with a whine, making himself smaller and meek in the face of his Alpha.

Bobbi hushed him softly as she came back to the conscious world, now that the danger had passed, they could get back to SHIELD and everything would be okay.

She couldn't forget those words though. Nor the shudder they sent down her spine.

 _If_ _you_ _hurt_ _him_ _._ _They'll_ _never_ _find_ _the_ _body_ _._


	11. Powers

Powers

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

 **This is from Agents of Shield S.3 E.19 "Failed Experiments. What if Daisy's idea had become reality? What if the team had gotten the powers Daisy wanted them to have? So, I decided to act on the idea and see where it took me. Also, I genderbent FitzSimmons so if I screw up and call one the wrong name, tell me so I can fix it, please.**

 _Phil Coulson (Iron Soldier): Superhuman endurance_

 _Melinda May (Living Weapon): Weapon Creation_

 _Alphonso MacKenzie (Ten Ton): Superhuman Strength and Senses_

 _Barbra Morse (Siren): Sonic Scream_

 _Lance Hunter (Mimic): Metamorphoses_

 _Daisy Johnson (Quake): Seismic powers that can create earthquakes and destruction_

 _Jasper Simmons (Chemical): Biological Manipulation_

 _Lillian Fitz (Vixen): Animal Mimicry_

 _AoS~AoS~AoS_

The pain was excruciating. It felt like they were being ripped apart on a molecular level and then slowly pieced back together. They couldn't think, couldn't breathe, their only focus was on the pain they felt.

They almost forgot what it felt like not to be in pain. Then they'd hear a scream coming from a fellow team mate and remember better times. For a moment, nothing was wrong. Then another wave of electricity would pull them under again. Another stab of a knife, another rip of skin, another shout, another scream, and they'd remember what was happening to them.

They all fell under one by one.

And suddenly.

Everything was silent.

 _AoS~AoS~AoS_

The first one to come out of their shell was Bobbi. She broke free gasping and panting and all she could hear was the ringing of her ears and the muffled voice of Daisy trying to ask her questions.

Next came Coulson, the black husk slowly dropping away from his skin. He looked around with a slow movement, taking in everything, then his gaze landed on Melinda's shell and his entire outlook changed. He broke out of the dust and dropped to his knees next to her.

Third was Mack, his husk cracking and falling to pieces around him, he fell to his knees, eyes screwed shut. When he looked up, eyes opening, they were not their normal brown, instead a startling and pale white that disappeared rapidly when he blinked twice.

Hunter and May broke out within seconds of each other, the shells shattering to pieces around them. A gasp and Coulson had a knife to his throat that was the first signal something was wrong, as weapons had been taken upon entering the building.

Hunter simply sat up, looking confused. When his eyes landed on Bobbi, his feet where immediately under him and he was right there next to her. No one knew how he'd gotten there so fast.

Lillian was the last one to break out, Jasper coming out ten minutes before. Jasper gasped as he came up from the dust the husk had become. He shook off the confusion and his eyes scanned the surrounding area until his eyes landed on Lillian, then he was scrambling to get up and hurry over.

The second all eight of them where free, Daisy stepped back and Lincoln brought over a needle and some other doctor things he'd need.

Joey and Elena both left and came back with freezing cold drinks the newly turned Inhumans would need.

Jasper and Lillian both stayed close together, as did Bobbi and Hunter. Daisy filled them in Hive had decided that the eight of them would make a great addition to his new age and had Alicia and Daisy capture them while James and Hive prepped the Kree blood and Terrigen crystals.

The changes to their bodies where noticed almost immediately.

Lillian's eyes had gone silted and a fluffy white tail had poked out from her jeans.

Jasper's hair had gone white with his face.

Mac's eyes would go pure white every time he blinked.

The one with the least control of his powers seemed to be Hunter, whose eyes went white whenever Mack's did, and hair changing to match the same shade as Jasper's.

May, Phil, and Bobbi didn't have visible changed, but when May ran a hand over Phil's skin, red lines appeared. Phil didn't seem to feel it, though, and when Bobbi opened her mouth to ask what was going on, a shrill, ear shattering scream poured from her lips instead.

Once the room had stopped shaking, Bobbi managed to calm her heart rate and ask what had happened to Hive.

"I took him out, the sound of you all in pain managed to break me out of his control. I couldn't stand it, but I couldn't stop it. We sent him off to space and blew up the ship, he won't be coming back." Daisy replied, voice and demeanor deadly calm.

 _AoS~AoS~AoS_

"No, Fitz, _Fitz_ , you have to concentrate. Think of it like a test!" Daisy shouted, watching as Lillian tried and failed to change back to human, she sighed, then something else caught her eye. "No, no, _Jasper_!" Daisy yelled hurrying over to stop Jasper from hurting a pair of flowers.

"Looking good, Coulson." Joey smiled, watching Coulson preform his 400th push up. "You've been at this for three hours. I think you should take a break. May, you too!" May locked up from where she was flexing her body into different shapes and sizes to mimic weapons she used.

"Not bad, Mack. Bobbi, you aren't so bad either." Lincoln swung another pot up and pointing at another wall for Mack to examining.

"Yes, yes. Not bad." Elena nodded, then preformed another high speed movement for Lance to copy.

The only ones who seemed to have trouble where FitzSimmons. They're entire genetic makeup had changed to accommodate their powers. It was very scary for them especially.

"Fitz, no, no. You've got to think of it like an extension of your body." Daisy sighed, putting her head in her hands. This was difficult. "Simmons."

When she turned, she was faced with a perfectly normal looking Jasper Simmons. No trace of color in his hair other than the natural hickory brown.

Daisy smiled. "Good. Better." She praised, looking over Jasper's eyes and hair critically.

There was a faint pop and the elder Inhuman looked back. Fitz looked _far_ from normal.

Her eyes where silted like a snake and bright amber, like a cat, but in her hair was a pair of floppy dog ears. The tail was gone though and that was improvement.

"I can't stop it." She groaned.

"Poor Lilly." Simmons clicked her tongue softly to convey her sympathy.

"Fitz, you've got the easiest powers to deal with. It's just something new for you to explore, and another test to beat." Daisy replied.

They watched in fascination as Lillian's eyes lit up at the mention of a test. Then her gaze became thoughtful and her eyes closed.

With another faint pop, they were faced with a perfectly normal Lillian Fitz. Save the prehensile monkey tail she'd sprouted.

"Very good! The tail?" Daisy asked.

"Entirely intentional." Lillian replied with a smile.

 **This basically just explains the powers and how they mastered them. I'll further it in later chapters if I'm asked to. I stayed up until one thirty to finish this, please give me good reviews!**


	12. Notes on FitzSimmons

Notes on FitzSimmons

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

 **This chapter will also be a spin off story for anyone who wants me to expand on some of the Notes or add in their own.**

Notes on Jemma Simmons:

\- Alpha female, loyal to SHIELD, more loyal to her team, and most loyal to Leopold Fitz.

\- Do not attempt to bully her, Agent Simmons is fully capable of handling her own.

\- Do not, under _any_ circumstances, place Leopold Fitz in any kind of danger. Agent Simmons can and will make her revenge look like an accident.

\- When in Rut, it is I'll advised for any Alpha to come near her _or_ Leopold Fitz as doing so resulted in three weeks of therapy for the last Alpha who tried.

\- Do not hurt her team, she doesn't look formidable, but she can reprogram your DNA within ten minutes.

\- She doesn't _like_ liars, but unless you've done something to hurt her team, or Leopold Fitz, she's willing to give second chances.

\- The only Alphas she allows around her are Lincoln Campbell, Steve Rogers, Thor Odinson, Natasha Romanoff, Wanda Maximoff, Luke Cage, Bobbi Morse, Alphonso MacKenzie, and Crystal "Bones" Harper.

\- The only person in the world who can understand Leopold Fitz when he's sleep deprived and mumbling completely random nonsense.

\- Also Fitz's SoulMate.

\- Knows her way around a gun despite her dislike of violence and engineering not being her "thing".

\- Also knows her way around the DANA of several different alien species due to Dr. Bethany Banner and Dr. Joseph Russo subbing in for FitzSimmons's S.O. at one point in their study at the Science Academy.

\- Lesson one in dealing with an angry Jemma Simmons: DO NOT ENGAGE! SHE IS _DEADLY_ WITH A KNIFE AND WILL NOT PROVIDE MERCY (unless Fitz asks her too with is highly unlikely)!

Notes on Leopold Fitz:

\- Omega male. Loyal to Jemma Simmons above all, then to his team, and finally to SHIELD.

\- Do not attempt to harm. Forget Jemma Simmons, Fitz's glare could intimidate even the hardest of criminals (it actually has been tested with SHIELD's Most Wanted #1).

\- During Heats it is best to leave him alone (if you're Alpha, Omegas are rather non-threatening to each other) Once Alpha-Omega Bonds have been made, (especially if they're SoulMates) the Omega only wants one person during Heat (the Alpha their Bonded to) and Fitz isn't merciful to the fool who tries to take him outside preHeat when he is aware.

\- The only Omegas Fitz allows around him are Toni Stark, Loki Laufeyson, Bethany Banner, Daisy "Skye" Johnson, Clint Barton, Pietro Maximoff, Penny Parker, Danni Rand, and Lance Hunter.

\- The only person who can work beside Jemma Simmons when she's moody and snappish.

\- Knows how guns work despite his dislike of them and nonviolent tendencies.

\- Also Simmons's SoulMate.

\- Has a tattoo right behind his ear that he flat out refuses to talk about. Jemma Simmons is the only one who knows the full story, even _Fury_ only knows small details.

\- Is deadly with long distance weapons.

\- First lesson on dealing with an angry Leopold Fitz: DO! NOT! ENGAGE! PERIOD!

This list has been made by a skilled operative. Follow these rules if you wish to work with them and live.

Signed:

Melinda May


	13. Framework

Framework

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

When Coulson and his team went under the Framework program, they had to be sedated.

Only because they fought so much and failed to understand.

AIDA could only smile as she watched them each repair a regret and go on to live happy lives. Everything was working perfectly.

 _Phil knew that this wasn't right. Not because he remembered anything, but because it felt wrong._

 _He felt... Disappointment when the SHIELD signups left and he hadn't joined._

 _He felt... Regret on his wedding day when he saw the woman of his dreams walking down the aisle._

 _He felt... Hurt when he saw the news and saw that an operation in Bahrain went South and an "Agent Melinda May" was taking heat._

 _He knew it wasn't right. But he didn't know how to fix this and he didn't know what to do._

 _He didn't even remember who he was._

 _Until Daisy came late in the night and forced him to._

 _His eyes opened and suddenly he knew._

 _Agent Melinda May was his lover in another world._

 _Daisy was their adopted child, as where three other he couldn't name, but one looked like the Doctor and the other he met the day before._

 _He_ remembered

AIDA growled, then pushed a few buttons on her computer. This threat _would_ be dealt with.

 _Mack woke up to another day beside his beautiful wife daughter._

 _He felt something as he woke up, a stab of pain and hurt hit his stomach. He knew it had something to do with Hope, but he didn't know why. He didn't understand._

 _He saw a name on the news. Rodriguez. He didn't understand why he felt shock and hurt and protect when he saw that she'd been taken in for testing._

 _He saw the Doctor making a public announcement and didn't know why his first thought was "Come on, Turbo."_

 _He doesn't understand sometimes, but he supposed that's okay. When he sees Daisy, it all clicks into place. He knows. He remembers._

 _He thinks two things. "Yo-Yo" who he remembers and knows as his Omega SoulMate and "Fitz" who he knows is important to him and needs to be saved._

AIDA narrows her eyes at the screen and pushes a few more buttons, determined to stop the threat.

 _May sees the children coming from the stairs and they beg her not to shoot._

 _She looks at them and wonders why the Doctor would order an attack on a building with children inside._

 _She turns a corner and demands to know where the Patriot is._

 _She sees the teacher Phil Coulson and she feels a strange feeling bubble up in her chest._

 _The man tells her that a child is trapped and to "snap out of it May" and she's falls into step beside him to save the children without hesitation._

 _She is unsure as to why._

 _She is loyal to Madame Hydra and to the Doctor and they are the only ones who can order her around. Why has she followed this man so willingly?_

 _After a while, it clicks and she knows who Phil Coulson is._

 _When she sees him again she kisses him for the first time._

 _She knows who this is and she knows why she followed him._

 _She loves him._

AIDA hissed at the loss of another person and dials up the programming. She can't lose this. She _can't_. She didn't know it was too late.

 _He is the Doctor. He knows. He knows who he is._

 _Except he doesn't._

 _He feels regret when he looks at Ophelia._

 _He feels disgust when he walks into Hydra._

 _He feels pain when he sees the Inhumans he's hurting._

 _He feels pride and a little fear when he looks at his second in command, Melinda May._

 _He feels admiration when he sees the teacher Phil Coulson._

 _He feels friendship when he sees Alphonso Mackenzie and Skye._

 _He doesn't know why and he knows that he doesn't know any of them, so he pushes it all down and he forgets all over again._

 _Until he goes to Ogygia._

 _And he hears his name. But it isn't his name, so why does he respond_?

 _He knows he's heard that sound before and he knows he never wants to hear it again._

 _He knows this woman that's screaming with tears streaming down her beautiful face._

 _He feels a burst of emotion he's never felt before._

 _He feels adoration and faith and joy and hope and excitement. He feels pain. He feels love._

 _He wants to know who she is._

 _The first time he's felt anything since he woke up beside Ophelia and she told him who he was._

 _Since he woke up that morning and she told him again._

 _He doesn't understand._

 _Then he sees the woman again and she kisses him._

 _And it all comes back to him._

 _This is his best friend. This is his Alpha. This is Jemma._

 _And he feels okay again._

 _Because he remembers._

AIDA screams because she knows she's been beaten. The people all wake up at once and all of them look around.

She tries to convince Fitz that she's who he thinks she is, but...

 _Leopold_ is gone and _Leo_ has been away for far too long.

 _Leo_ is coming back.

AIDA's last thought before she is dismantled is that she should've done better.

 **I apologize for the holes and such, I wrote this before I finished the episode and couldn't find heart to change it. It's just a different way it could've gone and a different ending.**

 **Feedback is love!**


	14. Pipes

Pipes

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

 **Okay, so not only is this an Alpha/Beta/Omega A/U this is also an A/U where there is a specific gene that is activated. It is activated young and very few people have it, it gives you characteristics of animals. Each of the team (and Yo-Yo but you knew that) has one. But no one else at SHIELD does (barring the Avengers).**

 _Phil Coulson: Bear_

 _Melinda May: Panther_

 _Bobbi Morse: Fox_

 _Alphonso MacKenzie: Gorilla_

 _Lincoln Campbell: Lion_

 _Yo-Yo Rodriguez: Gazelle_

 _Lance Hunter: Mongoose_

 _Daisy Johnson: Butterfly_

 _Jemma Simmons: Tiger_

 _Leo Fitz: Wolf_

 _AoS~AoS~AoS_

Fitz woke up that morning with the undeniable feeling that something was going to go _very_ wrong, _very_ soon.

He sat up in his bunk and stretched his arms up with a yawn. Looking around, he noticed that Simmons wasn't in the room.

 _She must have already gone down to the lab._ He thought, standing to get dressed, still half asleep.

When he was completely awake, he went to join Simmons down in the lab, mentally noting that Daisy was still asleep as well.

Fitz yawned again, feeling the effects of staying up late taking their toll. It wasn't technically his fault, Simmons had needed his input and by the time they'd gotten finished, it was well past three thirty.

He was paged through their Bond.

 _Sorry, Fitz, but we're needed upstairs._ Simmons's voice spiraled around the Bond, filling it with apologetic sympathy. It was going to be a bad one, Fitz could already tell.

Oh, this would be _fun_.

 _I'm on my way, Simmons._ Fitz replied, changing trajectory from the lab to the upstairs mini bar/briefing room.

 _Wake Daisy too, won't you? Mack refuses to go down there._ Simmons sounded rather upset, and Fitz couldn't blame her. They'd planned to break open the more recent robot today, not go on a mission.

He taped lightly on Daisy's door. _With good reason, last time he tried to wake Daisy up, she nearly quaked his spinal cord in half._ "Daisy? You need to get up, we have a mission." Fitz called into the room.

There was a sleepy grunt, then a hazy affirmative. The door opened up a crack and Fitz waved.

"A mission?" Daisy asked, blinking in the early light.

"Yes." Fitz replied.

The reply was spoken through a yawn. "Okay, I'll be out in a minute."

Fitz nodded and walked back to the briefing room. He slid up next to Simmons and kissed her cheek in greeting. A simple, casual encounter that wasn't against the regulations.

Simmons hummed and smiled at her Omega briefly, then focused back on Coulson, who was talking with May and Mack.

Daisy came up shortly after with Lincoln, Bobbi, and Hunter following her.

Once everyone was settled around the table, Coulson began.

A quick flash caught Fitz's eye and he looked down at the table he was leaning on. A face blinked back up at him and he scrunched his nose briefly as his mind memorized every last detail.

Once he'd memorized the face, he looked back up at Coulson. Fitz could worry about the name of this man later.

 _AoS~AoS~AoS_

The landing was a little rough due to turbulence.

Fitz was strapped into the seats in the Bus with Simmons at his side. Fitz never really like landing in a plane, so this was nothing new, but the light grip on the hand Simmons held was.

When they did land, it was with a jerk and all of them pitched forward a little. Mack looked at Fitz as he unstrapped himself and stood, hand drifting slowly from Simmons'. "Ready to go, Turbo?" He asked.

Fitz nodded, letting an unsteady breath pass his lips. "I'm ready."

 _AoS~AoS~AoS_

"There's way to much space for us to go through all of this in the three hours we've bought ourselves." Daisy huffed, holding her gun on the man she'd just taken down.

He looked Russian in the low light, but he could've easily have been Arabic in another light, so Fitz let the man's ethnicity be, noting simply that he was European.

"You're right." Coulson replied. "FitzSimmons, stick with me. Mack, Daisy, go that way with May." He ordered, putting away his gun and nodding to May.

May nodded back and the European man was rendered unconscious by a swift kick in the head.

Fitz winced at the sound, still not liking how... _Brutal_ it was. He followed Simmons as she reached for his hand again. The tunnel was dark and she didn't like dark places.

Fitz was more than happy to be her anchor and offer her what comfort he could.

 _AoS~AoS~AoS_

"You two head in there." Coulson said, gesturing to the slightly opened door with two fingers.

Fitz looked at the ash wood door, wary because of the creepy atmosphere. It creaked slightly as Simmons pushed it open further.

"Spooky." Simmons murmured, handing Fitz her pad for the Dwarves and kneeling down to look at a spot of dried red liquid on the floor.

Fitz shuddered as a cold wind blew by. "Okay. Stay together?" He asked.

"No, we'll get more done if we split up." Simmons replied. "I'll stay towards the front of the room. Will you check the back?"

Fitz nodded and carefully stepped around the red spot and headed towards the back of the room.

For whatever reason, the back of the room was covered in pipes. The floor and walls and ceiling where all covered in pipes of all shapes and sizes.

Inside the room with all the pipes, there was a blue box. It wasn't a box to carry anything in, it was far too small. It almost looked like a box to hold a wedding ring. The box sat on top of a black leather briefcase next to a pair of green, wire framed glasses.

There weren't any lenses that Fitz could see and the young Omega was fairly confused.

As a person who used to wear glasses himself, he didn't know why someone would leave their glasses behind.

There was a flash of a shadow in his peripheral vision and his spine snapped straight in an instant, ears pulling up into _alert_ position.

 _Someone was in there with him._

 _AoS~AoS~AoS_

Simmons was in the process of collecting the last of the Dwarfs when she heard it.

Her sharp, striped ears flicked, standing up straight when she heard the footsteps pass her and her gun followed the movements of her hearing as she listened for more of the steps.

As she moved, scanning the room, she gave little through to the whirring of the Dwarfs or the sound of air passing though the room above her.

When she heard nothing else that alerted her to danger, Simmons's thoughts came back to the Dwarfs and putting them away.

She quickly regretted it when she heard a scream.

" _Fitz_!" She gasped and abandoned her task completely, gun in her hand and hair on end.

She headed to the back in a flurry of brown and black and orange.

When Jemma finally got to the room her Mate was in, she was horrified by what she saw.

"Simmons! _Jemma_!" Yelled Coulson, but she couldn't hear him.

Not when her Mate lay on the floor in a rapidly expanding pool of his own blood.

The blood came from a wound in his side made by a thin pipe shoved cleanly through his side.

He lay on the floor gasping with wide crystal eyes and flattened ears. Shock hadn't set in yet and he could clearly still feel the pain, it was evident in his face.

He stared up into the ceiling, clearly not really seeing it, all his focus being at the metal rod that had been shoved into his body.

Jemma snapped into action, looking at Coulson, then kneeling down next to her Omega.

" _Leo!_ " She cried, feeling for his pulse and gripping the rod simultaneously.

"J-Jemma." His voice was soft, not even a whisper, but she heard it.

Jemma looked at Coulson again as Leo's heartbeat started to slow. " _Help me!_ " She cried, voice hard and cold.

Coulson knelt down next to her and took the rod. "Be ready to stem the bleeding." He told her and she ripped of her jacket, then her blouse, leaving on the tank top underneath, and started tearing it into strips.

Coulson gripped the rod tightly in both hands and looked at Jemma, then Leo. "I'm going to pull it out, Fitz. It's going to hurt."

Leo gave no indication he heard, but his eyes misted over and Coulson took that as a bad sign.

Jemma held up her tattered blouse and nodded to Coulson.

The bear-hybrid heaved in a breath, then gripped the rod tighter and pulled it out in one swift movement.

The pipe flashed in the minimal light and Leo screamed again, yelling turning into unintelligible words slipping quickly, like a waterfall, past his lips.

Jemma's eyes watered as he screamed and another voice joined the air, heading right for them. Coulson looked at Jemma and how hard she pressed her torn blouse over the wound.

He nodded to her. "Take care of him, I've got this." He pulled out his gun and moved back into the normal room with no piping lining the walls.

He hid right beside the door, the best place to avoid immediate detection.

The second someone walked through the door, he hit them fast and hard.

They dropped to the ground with a cry of pain and Coulson was on them in an instant. "Who are you?" He snapped.

"Coulson, _chill_! It's _me_!" Shouted Mack's voice.

Coulson startled and they looked closer. The body below him had almost glossy, close cropped black hair and his eyes flashed a bright green that faded to brown.

It was Mack. No doubt. He would recognize the gorilla-hybrid anywhere.

Coulson helped him up.

"I'm losing him! _I'm losing him, Coulson!_ " Jemma shouted and Coulson was immediately back by Leo's side.

"Fitz." He mumbled as he was followed by May, Mack, and Daisy.

"One... Two... Three... Four... Five... _Breath, Leo! Please!_ " Jemma cried, preforming CPR.

"Fitz!" Daisy breathed, voice urgent and sharp and small.

Jemma breathed in, tilting Leo's chin up and giving the breath to her Mate then continuing to preform CPR.

Coulson put two fingers on Leo's neck as Jemma called for something to restart his heart.

May raced off and found the device, bringing it back in record time.

Jemma wiped away her tears as she charged the device while Mack pulled open Leo's shirt. "Everyone back up!" She called, looking down the body. " _Clear!"_ She discharged the device into Leo's body, putting the paddles on his bare chest.

"Nothing." Coulson said, checking for a pulse.

"Again." Jemma demanded and the device recharged while Daisy took over CPR. "Everyone back up." A quick check. "Clear!" And the paddles discharged again.

Coulson checked his pulse and Daisy began CPR once more.

"Pulse?" Jemma asked, preparing to recharge the device.

Coulson looked at them, face grim and Jemma's eyes filled with tears as he shook his head.

She prepared to charge the device again, but May took her wrist and guided it away.

She sobbed as Daisy gave her a huge hug, holding Jemma tightly against her body with Jemma's arms pinned against her chest.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered and she was completely understanding, having lost her own Mate once before (then regaining him when he regained a pulse) and knowing how it felt.

Lincoln and Yo-Yo (from the command center back in the Bus) both looked at each other and tears slipped silently down Yo-Yo's face, welling up in Lincoln's eyes.

Mack, Daisy, and May all let tears of grief fall, May and Daisy having known Fitz since the beginning of the Team and gotten to know him personally, Mack because he connected with Fitz through engineering and mechanical fix-ups.

Coulson looked down at Fitz's body with shock written on his face. He'd promised himself he'd never lose another teammate. He'd _promised_. But it looked like this was another promise broken.

They got him back to medical and Daisy didn't leave Jemma's side.

The doctors did what they could, but nothing obviously worked.

Until, Jemma's ears (which had been pressed flat against her hair) flickered, then shot up as her head snapped to attention.

"Jemma?" Daisy asked, looking at her curiously.

" _Shh!"_ Jemma flapped a hand and all of them looked up, falling silent.

 _There it was again!_ Jemma shot off her seat and went running towards the basement where the deceased patients where kept.

Daisy looked at the rest of them, then her wings fluttered and she lifted off the ground to follow the biochemist.

 _AoS~AoS~AoS_

Jemma threw open the doors and looked around for the source of the thumping noise her instincts told her to find.

She carefully listened, filing all the noises she heard away until she found the right one.

She looked at a metal bed, feeling energy hum beneath her skin as she ripped open the door.

Out slid the metal tray housing her Mate. His skin was cool, but not pale. Jemma put her ear to his chest right above his heart.

 _There!_ She thought, face lighting up as she heard it.

It was faint, and unclear, but she heard it clear as day.

 _A heartbeat_. She closed her eyes as she listened for it and her eyes watered up again, spilling over with the tears that came.

He coughed as his eyes fluttered open. "J-Jemma?" He asked and Jemma's eyes flew open.

" _Leo._ " She breathed and hugged him tightly, feeling the steady _ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum_ of his heart.

 _AoS~AoS~AoS_

 _Pipes._ That's all Leopold remembered about that night.

 _Pipes. Pipes. Pipes. Pipes everywhere._

"Do you remember the briefing?" _Pipes. A flash, maybe a screen? No, too dull. Holoboard? Perhaps. A face?_

"No, I don't."

"Do you remember the landing?" _Pipes. A jerk, Mack's face. "Ready to go, Turbo?"_

"No, I don't."

"Do you remember splitting up?" _Pipes. "FitzSimmons, stick with me. Mack, Daisy, go that way with May."_

"No, I don't."

"Do you remember what you where there for?" _Pipes. A box, blue. What is it? Maybe a carrier of some sort? No, too small. Briefcase, glasses. A desk. Someone was there._

"No, I don't."

"Do you remember being hurt?" _Pipes. A scream. A flash. Burning pain. "Fitz!" "Leo!" "One... Two... Three... Breath, Leo! Please!" "Clear!"_

"No, I don't."

"Do you remember anything?" _(Pipes.) Stop. Wait. (Pipes.) Look around. What's here? (Pipes.) Where am I?_

"I remember the pipes."


	15. Freakshow

Freakshow

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

 **Kind of like my Power AU, but different.**

 **AUs: Circus AU, Powers AU**

 _Phil Coulson (Iron Soldier): Superhuman endurance_

 _Melinda May (Living Weapon): Weapon Creation_

 _Alphonso Mackenzie (Ten Ton): Superhuman Strength and Senses_

 _Elena Rodriquez (Slingshot): Super Speed_

 _Barbra_ _Morse (Siren): Sonic Scream_

 _Lincoln Campbell (Sparkplug): Electricity Manipulation_

 _Lance Hunter (Mimic):_ _Metamorphoses_

 _Daisy Johnson (Quake): Seismic powers that can create earthquakes and destruction_

 _Jasper Simmons (Chemical): Biological Manipulation_

 _Lillian Fitz (Vixen): Animal Mimicry_

 _AoS~AoS~AoS_

The Meta Circus was _legendary_.

Its attendants where always satisfied.

Everyone was always tipped and paid well, the money was very well spent.

From the acrobats, to the jugglers, to the trapeze artists, the crowd just ate it up, but the highlight of the performance was always the Meta Circus's starring act.

For it always started with the ring leader, Fury, called for the attendees attention away from the knife thrower, Hawkeye, and to a big curtain.

 _Step right up, ladies and gentlemen._

"Come one, come all. Step right up, ladies and gentlemen!"

Hard rock music starts to play over the speakers.

 _Come and see. Thing your eyes won't believe. Some say they are aliens. Some say they are strangers. Some say they are not of this world._

"Come and see some thing you won't be able to believe. Some people will say their aliens, others will say their strange, but one thing is certain, they aren't completely of this world!" Fury yells and people begin to stand and move to the curtain.

 _We will not conform to the masses, whether they scorn, or whether they attack us. Come one, come all._

"They refuse to conform to the crowds, not even if they're scorned or attacked. So come one, come all."

 _Welcome_

"Welcome, my friends."

 _To the freakshow!_

"Welcome to the freakshow!" Fury shouts and suddenly the curtain lifts and there are electric currents rushing through the air and shock waves join them and the crowd goes wild with applause.

 _Welcome to the freakshow, step up status quo. Hope you enjoy the ride._

"Introducing Quake!"

A young brunette girl with a full black cat suit and metal wrist supports comes across the center stage and shouts. "Welcome to the freak show, where we step up the status quo! Hope you'll enjoy the ride!" Then her hands shoot out and more shock waves fill the air. The crowds all gasp in unison.

 _Welcome to the freakshow, we've got horns and halos. We ain't afraid and we ain't buying no lie!_

"Up next, Sparkplug!"

A blonde man with pale skin and electric blue eyes follows Quake, who'd returned to the back and was throwing up more shock waves. "Welcome to the freakshow, guys. We've all got horns and halos. We aren't afraid and we don't buy any lies." His eyes flashed and electricity arced through the air.

 _Eat it, drink it, think it, be it, breath it. Guess you don't even know who I am._

"Living Weapon!"

An Asian woman with brown eyes came up the line as Sparkplug moved to join Quake. "We eat it, drink it, think it, are it, and breath it. You really don't know who we are." The woman smirked as a gun formed in her hand.

 _I don't believe it, need it, see it, feed it, breed it. Time to make my final stand._

"Iron Soldier!"

A man with graying tawny hair followed they Asian woman. "You won't believe it, need it, see it, feed it, or breed it anywhere but here. It's time to make our final stand!"

The crowds cheered and applauded as the others all stepped forward and began to perform acrobatics with grace not even the most skilled of artists could achieve.

 _Welcome to the freakshow, this is where the freaks go, this is the place that they can never take away. Welcome to the freakshow, we don't ever need no one to tell us who to be, how to think, I don't care what they believe. Oh, oh, oh. Welcome to the freakshow._

The Freaks all began to sing, like something out of a movie. "Welcome to the freakshow, this is where the freaks go. This is our place, that they can never take away. Welcome to the freakshow, we don't ever need no one to tell us who to be, how to think, I don't care what they believe."

Quake slid up to stand in front of all the rest and sang alone. "Oh, oh, oh!" She punctuated each one with bursts of shock waves. The her smirk lit up the stage as the crowd cheered.

"Welcome to the freakshow." Quake spoke, a smirk on her face as she preformed a quick back flip and ended up in behind the line of Freaks.

 _Welcome to the outcast, take a step across the tracks. We ain't got nothing to prove._

"Please welcome, Siren."

A blonde girl with blue-green eyes walked forward and opened her mouth, emitting an earsplitting shriek that made people cover their ears and gasp. She grinned when she stopped and people applauded. "Welcome to the outcasts, feel free to step across out tracks. There's nothing for us to prove." She smiled.

 _Don't need your smiling face, don't need your hand to shake. Cause, it's my life and I ain't living for you._

"Here's Mimic!"

A black haired man with sharp brown eyes stepped forward, electricity sparking around him and a gun formed in his hand. "We don't need a smiling face, or a hand to shake. It's our lives, we don't live them for you." He bowed slightly as the crowd cheered and he stepped back into the line.

 _Eat it, drink it, think it, be it, breath it. Guess you don't even know who I am._

"Meet Slingshot!"

A Hispanic woman sped up to the stage and around one man so fast they couldn't see, she was just suddenly there. She smiled at one man. "You most certainly don't know who I am. Check your wallet."

When the man checked his wallet his license was gone. In its place was a cream white shell and Slingshot held up a rectangle of plastic. The crowd went wild.

 _I don't believe it, need it, see it, be it, breed it. Time to make my final stand._

"Here's Ten Ton!"

An African man moved forwards and lifted Slingshot up to sit on his shoulder while carrying a petite woman with reddish brown curls. He spoke. "It's time to make our final stand."

 _Welcome to the freakshow. This is where the freaks go. This is our place that they can never take away. Welcome to the freakshow, we don't ever need no one to tell us who to be, how to think, I don't care what they believe. Oh, oh, oh. Welcome to the freakshow._

The acrobatics came back and this time, it was pairs. The group performed once more, singing again and the crowd cheered.

Lincoln came forwards and electricity sparked, arching high into the air. "Welcome to the freakshow." His grin was laced with smugness and amusement.

 _I'm a freak naturally. Just how I want to be. You're a freak just like me._

"Give it up for Chemical!"

A brunette man came back, smiling pleasantly. His hair suddenly went bright yellow, tinged at the end with a pale pink and his eyes turned silver-blue. "I'm a freak, naturally. Just how I want to be. They're all freaks, just like me." He laughed.

 _I'm a freak naturally. Just how I want to be. You're a freak just like me._

"Introducing Vixen!"

A young lady with reddish brown hair and crystal blue eyes came forward last and scanned her eyes over the crowd. "We are freaks, naturally. It's how we want to be. They're all freaks, just like me." Her eyes flickered and the pupils swam within the irises, becoming slitted and bright orange and ashen cat ears appeared on her head.

 _Welcome to the freakshow. This is where the freaks go, this is the place that they can never take away. Welcome to the freakshow, we don't ever need no one to tell us who to be, how to think. I don't care what they believe._

The group laughed as they did their acrobatics and Vixen ended up lost in the crowd.

She appeared on top of a pyramid, held at the bottom by Iron Soldier and Ten Ton, then at the lower level stood Slingshot, Siren, Mimic, and Living Weapon. The next level was Quake, Sparkplug, and Chemical, all three supporting Vixen on their shoulders.

 _Freakshow, freakshow, the place that they can never take away. Freakshow, freakshow, the place that they can never take away._

The pyramid collapsed and the Freaks stood on the floor, bowing low as the crowds cheered and applauded.

 _Welcome to the freakshow. Welcome to the freakshow_

Quake smirked as she stepped forward. "Welcome to the freakshow." She said and lifted her hands palm up, releasing a gentle shock wave through the room.

The crowd went wild and clapped, offering shout and cheers of appreciation.

Fury stepped up with two people, the knife thrower (Hawkeye) and a trapeze artist (Black Widow), waving people away. "Who wants to meet a Freak?" He yelled and the Freaks all waved as the cheering increased.

 _AoS~AoS~AoS_

"That was by far, the best performance you've done this season. Good job, Phil, Melinda." Fury nodded as the Freaks left the main tent and headed back to their cluster of trailers.

Iron Soldier, Phil Coulson, smiled back and Living Weapon, Melinda May, offered a nod as they ushered their giggling "children" out of the tent and into the trailers.

"You all did well." Phil said, an easy going smile on his face. "Lincoln, Lance, great job. Mack, Jasper, wonderful."

"Yeah, great job, today. Especially the pyramid." Melinda offered a rare smile. "Lillian, Daisy, Bobbi, you did great. Yo-Yo, I want to tweak your act, I saw your slip up when you took that guys wallet."

Vixen (Lillian Fitz), Chemical (Jasper Simmons), Quake (Daisy Johnson), Sparkplug (Lincoln Campbell), Siren (Bobbi Morse), Mimic (Lance Hunter), and Ten Ton (Alphonso Mackenzie) all glowed with pride.

Slingshot (Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez) smiled and nodded at Melinda, showing her consent.

"Hey, P.C., we are a freakshow. It's what we do!" Daisy laughed and the others joined in.

 _Welcome to the freakshow._


	16. Father

Father

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

Wanda didn't know much about her team.

She knew their names, what they did, and a few choice personal things, but that was it.

The person she and her twin brother, Pietro, knew the best would definitely be Clint Barton.

They knew that he and Black Widow where dating, that his farm house was a cover for his sister and her kids, though the kids knew him as their father, not their Uncle.

Wanda knew that Pietro loved Clint, not like a lover, but as family.

Wanda knew that Pietro had been sent to the Bartons' farm after his injuries healed so that he could recover.

Wanda knew that Clint was the closest thing to a father figure that she and Pietro had.

She knew that Pietro was always faster to protect Clint because he couldn't stand to loose anyone else.

And she knew that she felt the same.

So, the second she saw Vision hit Clint, she knew what she had to do.

She saw Vision restrain him and all she could think was, _don't you dare hurt him_. Because in all honesty, she thought as she blinked back her tears of frustration, Clint was Pietro's family, but he was _Wanda's_ family too.

 _I'm sorry, Vision_ She thought, _but Clint is family and family comes before anything else._

"Clint, you can't over power me." Vision said, holding firm against the archer's struggling.

Clint's face ticked upwards in a slight smile. "I know I can't." He replied, then inclined his head towards Wanda and she nodded imperceptibly. "But she can."

And Wanda let her scarlett fly to her fingers. It formed a ball as she walked to face her friend. "Vision, that's enough. Let him go. I'm leaving." She stated firmly.

Mentally she reached out and sent a message to her brother, lettig him know that she was coming.

"I can't let you." Vision protested.

Wands only smirked and twisted her wrists, widening her hands. The gem on Vision's forehead glowed, coming under Wanda's control. She forced his body to go intangible and Clint slid bonelessly to the floor, gasping for breath.

"I'm sorry." Wanda told Vision as she forced him to bend back to the floor.

He flailed, not used to being out of control of his body, and looked at her. The floor cracked under the pressure of his body and he grunted. "If you do this... They wil never stop being afraid of you."

Vaguely, Wanda noticed Clint lift his head and watch as Vision was forced to his knees. Wanda probed his mind momentarily and was relieved to find no walls had gone up. Clint hadn't closed himself off to her.

"I can't control their fear." Wanda replied, tears welling up, but she didn't let them fall. "Only my own."

And with that, she twisted her wrists against and walked forward, pulling one hand down, pointer finger directing a ball of her scarlett to Vision's chest and the man fell.

The floor cracked underneath him and he bust straight down through several feet of concrete and dirt.

Wanda gasped as the scarlett faded from her fingers and Clint stepped up to the hole.

Turned to Wanda, Clint gave her a nod and a slight smile. "Come on, we got one more stop." He started outside.

Wanda flicked her wrist, casting a spell that would ensure Vision couldn't follow them for a while and followed her mentor outside.

Clint didn't look back until he was in the van and only when Wanda had climbed into the back with her brother. "Nice work, by the way, and I'm sorry. That couldn't have been easy for you."

Clint started driving as Wanda explained the situation to her brother. Pietro had listened patiently and then cuddled into her side, distracting her from what had happened, if only for a little while.

"Thank you, Clint. It wasn't, but I'll get over it, I'm sure." Wanda replied.

Clint didn't pry, but he did nod.

 _Civil War~Civil War_

Wanda mostly looked out the window on the way to pick up the Ant-Man, but she did notice small things.

Like how Clint stopped for snacks and water when Pietro complained of being hungry. (The high metabolism was sometimes a blessing, but sometimes a curse.)

Like how Clint would check on them every so often in the mirror.

How his eyes softened when he looked in the mirror and found Pietro had fallen asleep with his head in Wanda's lap.

How he smiled at every joke even if he'd heard it before.

How he never minded how often Pietro asked if they where there yet, just told him no and handed back another book or iPod and headphones stocked with high paced music.

How he'd stocked the van with anything and everything to not only keep 19 _speedsters_ busy, but 19 _witches_ as well.

Wanda smiled as she took the third book Clint offered and began to read.

Clint may not be their birth dad, but he was most certainly their father.

Even if the pair didn't let him know.


	17. Captured

Captured

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

 **AU: A/B/O**

They didn't see their captors coming.

They where in the lab, Jemma standing, because Leo was getting the beginnings of a migraine, and trying to help Leo talk through the inner workings and shut down process of the device they'd found.

Leo sat in a rolling chair because of the pounding in his head (perks of being so smart) with a hand over his eyes to relieve the pain building behind them.

As he shook his head to something Jemma was asking, he straightened and sighed. "I don't think so, the radiation will be triggered if we proceed with that line of thought."

Jemma sighed as well and tried to think of something else, her own head starting to throb, the pressure in her temples already threatening to become a headache.

It was sudden. Her hands where on her temples on minute, and being tied behind her the next.

She felt the spike of fear and confusion hit the Bond in the next second.

Leo's confusion came from the fact that one second, he was complaining mentally about the impending migraine. The next moment, there was a hand over his chest, cool metal at his throat, and a voice in his ear warning him not to move.

"Fitz!" Jemma cried, trying to go to her Mate and pull him away from the danger in front of them.

A different voice spoke softly. "If you want him to live,don't struggle or I swear, I'll kill him and make you watch." It threatened.

Jemma was thrown into a loop of worst case scenarios.

Leo tortured slowly for information he couldn't provide and dying away from her, surrounded by harsh people and hatred filled words.

A bullet hole between his clouded blue eyes after the safety of a gun had been pulled back.

A stab wound to his heart as he slowly bled out from wounds she couldn't heal.

It didn't matter _how_ he died, just what happened after. When your SoulMate died, a small part of you went with them and you'd never be the same. She'd be hopeless and loveless and unable to do _anything_ if Leo died.

Her eyes filled with tears at the idea of being alone forever. "No, no. Please, don't hurt him." She begged, she words slipping easily from her lips as she pleaded for the life of the only person she'd _ever_ Mark as hers.

The men nodded to each other and the man holding Fitz pushed him over to the security camera and held the scalpel to his throat.

The angle of the knife to his neck forced Leo's chin upwards and that exposed the Mating Mark on the left side of his neck.

Jemma growled briefly at the rough treatment, angry that these men where doing this, but the knife was pressed harder into her Mate's neck causing a slight whimper to pass his lips as he struggled to breath.

"Shut up, or he dies." The man restraining her ordered.

Jemma backed off, watching as Fitz went paler and paler until he was white.

She wanted to rip these men to pieces or growl at them and make them leave the pair alone.

Unfortunately this was not to happen.

They waited a good couple minutes before they where let go.

In that time, Leo's head tilted further back as the knife was put farther into his neck (and subsequently closer to their Bond Mark) and Jemma wanted very much to struggle, but remembered that doing so would result in her Mate's death at the last moment.

A single tear ran down her cheek.

She couldn't protect him now.

 _AoS~AoS~AoS_

It was twelve minutes before Spanish was heard over their radio.

They where twelve of the longest minutes of Jemma's life.

They where let go and allowed to embrace each other. Jemma held the trembling boy with all the strength she could provide to prove that she was still here and wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

It was far too soon for them to be pulled apart.

"No, please." Leo pleaded and Jemma's heart _broke_ at the terror and pain and begging in his voice. She bit back a few curses when she saw the tears beginning to form in his eyes and she promised herself that these men would _pay_.

She looked back at her captors briefly, then her eyes snapped back to her Omega and she put reassurance through the Bond that they would be alright.

Something told her that they both knew she was trying to reassure herself just as much as Leo.

 _AoS~AoS~AoS_

The second the ropes where tied tightly around their wrists and their arms where bound securely behind their backs, Leo was lead to sit in front of the bay doors and Jemma was pushed towards the doors and tied to them.

They where tied to the doors as the men left, knowing them to be securely caught.

When they where gone, Leo allowed a sigh of relief. "Are you alright?" He asked, crystal eyes meeting her hickory brown.

She saw the fear in his eyes, saying he was still terrified. She saw the lines at the corners, speaking of the pain hidden beneath the surface. She moved herself closer so that her hip met his side and he breathed out sharply and shakily.

The tension melted off his shoulders.

 _Check one,_ Jemma thought.

"I'm fine, Leo. I'm alright. What about you? You where the one they threatened, are you alright?" She asked quickly, looking at him with worry lacing the edges.

Leo's posture slumped and Jemma saw his pupils dilate slightly. She let her scent roll off her so as to calm the scared Omega.

 _Check two._

"I'm alright, I'm alright." Leo offered, and Jemma caught tears threatening to spill over.

She put encouragement through the Bond and wiped the fear from her face. Leo needed her now and she needed him just as much. She had to be strong.

 _Lean on me._ She told him and Leo put his head on her collar bone.

 _Good. Now breath with me._ She breathed in, counting to four, then breathing out.

After a few heartbeats, Leo followed her example and began to breath.

Jemma felt the light press again the Bond and snuggled in closer to her Omega, pushing her nose into his hair.

He made an appreciative noise, calming down significantly, but he flinched when Ward and Skye where pushed into view.

 _Shh, easy. It's just the rest of the team, don't worry._ Jemma soothed and Leo settled back down, tucking himself closer to his Alpha.

Jemma herself was comforted by the fact that while she may be unable to protect him right now, but she could still provide him with comfort when he needed it.

The Alpha female whispered to her Mate as May was drug down by her wrists.

He breathed in deeper and pressed himself closer to the Alpha as their captors, Reyes, walked past and Jemma glared at the woman.

She'd made a mistake catching them.

And Reyes would rectify the second they where free.


	18. Mercy

Mercy

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

 **AU: Peter Parker/Stark, Alpha/Beta/Omega**

 **Team: Avengers**

Peter Parker was something of a _wunderkind_.

He spoke three different languages (English, Spanish, and Russian(1)), was 15 as a Junior in highschool (really should've been out of school already), and had a 4.0 GPA no matter how many classes he missed due to missions and attacks on the school.

He balanced his school and life with being a superhero and Tony swore that one day, the kid would get himself killed doing his job.

Tony had promised Peter that he would protect the poor kid.

And Tony had just gotten him killed.

 _"Dad? I don't feel so good."_

Tony had reassured him, figuring the poor kid was just queasy after witnessing everyone around them turn to dust.

Then he saw it. Peter was on his way to turning to dust too.

 _"Dad, I don't want to go."_

Peter stumbled, trying to get to Mr. Stark because Tony had promised, _Tony_ _promised_ that Peter would be safe with him.

Always.

 _"I don't know what's happening. I don't-"_

Tony caught Peter as he began to cry. Peter had tightened his hold on Tony and Tony hugged the poor kid close and prayed to a God he didn't believe in that Peter wouldn't be taken from him.

 _"I don't want to go, Daddy. Please, please, don't make me go."_

Peter pleaded and Tony had whispered he was sorry, he wanted Peter to stay, Peter I'll fix this, Peter don't be afraid, it's gonna be okay, Peter it's gonna be okay.

 _"Daddy, please."_

Peter whimpered, he begged, he pleaded, _he didn't want to go_.

Tony didn't want him too. Tony tried so hard to keep the kid out of this life. Now he'd give anything for the kid to stay.

 _"I'm sorry."_

Peter dissolved and Tony sat on his ass, he couldn't believe what had just happened. He looked down and saw Peter's locket. The one Peter never took off.

Tony didn't have want to believe it.

Tony wanted to believe none of this was real, that it was just another one of his nightmares that he would wake up from to find Peter safe and sound.

Tony wanted to believe that Peter hadn't just dissolved, that it hadn't been real, that he was going to wake up any second and find that the kid was in the lab, that he'd fallen asleep working on another update to his suit.

Tony wanted to believe Peter was fine.

But he _wasn't_.

And Tony was going to kill Thantos for taking Peter from him.

 _~I WASN'T PREPARED FOR THIS~_

 _Tony smiled as he watched Peter battle his bots and continue his training._

 _He was so glad he gone against first instinct._

 _He wouldn't trade Peter for anything now._

 _Peter grunted, taking a hot and falling from his webs._

 _Tony freaked out and stopped everything in it's tracks._

 _"Peter!" he called. "Are you okay?"_

 _Peter had sat up with a hand on his head and a silly grin on his face, "Can we do that again?"_

 _Tony just smiled and laughed._

 _~THAT ENDING SCENE FREAKING KILLED ME~_

 _Peter's amazing powers had been there since age seven when he was used as a science experiment (for a guy wishing to test Kree blood) without Tony's knowledge._

 _(That guy was dead now, he never made it out of Stark Tower.)_

 _Tony had been training him since age eight._

 _Peter was thirteen and going on his first mission with Tony, as he was promised._

 _Tony was secretly very scared, but also so, so proud. He'd always wanted a baby. Now he had one and Peter was doing better than Tony ever imagine for himself._

 _Peter was doing well, controlling his strength so he didn't hurt people, using his webs to trap the bad guys, staying away from the fighting, but close to the fight._

 _Tony couldn't be more proud if he tried._

 _Then someone got a lucky shot and Peter went down. His web snapped under his dead weight and Peter was suddenly flying through the air._

 _Tony caught him, flying faster than he'd ever flown before._

 _"Peter! Kid, come on, you gotta wake up!" Tony cried._

 _Peter remained still and silent and Tony's grief turned to anger._

 _"Cap, the bad guy got Spiderman." Tony growled. "I want him brought here."_

 _"Tony." Steve warned. "You sure?"_

 _"I want him to see what he's done." Tony snarled. "Bring him to my location. If you'd like to help more, any of you, then start praying that's Peter wakes up."_

 _The Comms where silent for a full ten heartbeat and Tony began to wonder. Then Steve sighed. "Capture the enhanced. Take him to Tony's location. Take him alive, but don't hesitate to use brutal force."_

 _Twenty minutes later, the enhanced man was on his knees in front of Tony with two hands on his shoulder. One was Natasha's, who hated people who mercilessly harmed Omegas (and was very fond of Peter). The other was Clint, who was also fond of Peter and would do anything to protect the younger boy._

 _Tony stared the enhanced man in the face. "Do you have_ any _idea what you've done?" he asked._

 _The enhanced man snarled, snapped his teeth at Natasha's hand, only to earn a punch from Clint and Natasha both._

 _Tony smirked. "Don't be cocky. These two will tear you to shreds. Do you know what you've done?" Tony asked again._

 _"Screw you." the enhanced laughed._

 _Tony frowned, then donned his glove and slammed his fist into the man's face. "You hurt my kid, dumbass. If he doesn't wake up soon, I'll keep hitting you. None of the others will stop me so don't try to find mercy from them, you_ won't _find any."_

 _Tony kept punching the man until he was unconscious and even then, he wanted to keep going. But he was stopped by a pained groan from a thirteen-year-old's lips._

 _Tony turned and prayed hard to the God he didn't believe in._

 _"Dad?" Peter groaned, "What happened? Did we win?"_

 _Tony almost sobbed as Clint and Natasha smiled, then dragged away the enhanced. He pulled Peter into a hug and let go of the breath he'd been holding. "Yeah. We won, Pete. We won."_

 _~I'M NOT AT ALL OKAY WITH THIS~_

 _Peter_ _was young when he had his first nightmare of Tony dying._

 _Peter_ _woke up screaming in the middle of the night, scared and crying and begging his father to help_ _him_.

 _Tony_ _came rushing into the room. "Hey, hey, hey! Shh, Pete, what's wrong?"_

 _"You went through the space portal. You left me here alone. You died." Peter sobbed and tried to breathe, but what little air he got in came rushing back out in pants and sobs._

 _"Daddy, please don't leave me." Peter pleaded between cries._

 _Tony's_ _heart broke and he pulled Peter into a hug, his tiny Omega child was just so adorable and small and fragile and Tony was so afraid for him._

 _"I won't ever purposefully leave you. I promise Peter. You hear me, Pete? I_ promise _." Tony said it with such conviction that Peter believed him ten times over._

 _Peter_ _nodded and burrowed further into his Daddy's chest and sniffled._

 _Tony_ _laid with him, humming a lullaby._ _"Daddy, will you sing?"_

 _Tony_ _chuckled. "Alright._ "

Hold on, to this lullaby.

Even when the music's gone.

Just close your eyes,

the sun is going down.

You'll be alright,

no one can hurt you now.

Come morning light,

you and I'll be safe and sound."

 _~NOTHING ABOUT THIS MOVIE IS OKAY~_

Tony growled, grief once again turning to anger because even though he was Omega, Thantos had just killed his kid. His _baby_. Tony's only little boy.

Thantos, Tony decided in that moment as his eyes began to glow and he stood.

Tony reached down and picked up the only scrap of Peter that Tony currently had and put the locket around his neck.

Tony's eyes glowed a bright blue and his voice turned to a growl as he set off after Thantos.

As Tony's eyes flooded completely with blue and he slipped into Feral Space, a few last thought came to mind.

 _I hope it was worth it, asshole. You think killing my friends was "_ mercy _"? I hope you're ready for this._

 _You_ never _should've come after my kid._

 **(1) It's my headcannon that, because they both have "spider" themed names/powers/weapons Peter and Natasha kinda drifted together and are very close.**


	19. La La Latch

La La Latch

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

 **Pentatonix made a beautiful song called La La Latch. If you don't know it, the video is on YouTube, please feel free to listen to it, it's very good.**

 **Anyhow, that was my inspiration to write this one-shot. I thought the song represented Daisy and Ward very well.**

 **I apologized if you think Ward isn't all that bad, this one-shot probably isn't for you, and you can skip it if you'd like. Otherwise, please read.**

 **AU: A/B/O, Hybrid**

 **Team: Agents of SHIELD**

 _Grant Ward: Alligator_

 _AoS~AoS~AoS_

 _La la, la la la la la la la la la la,_  
 _La la la la, la la la la la la la la la la_ _._

Skye could've written a book on how much Ward had hurt her.

Thing was, despite all that, she somehow still loved him.

Her previous boyfriend wasn't so lucky, only good for a decent lay, but with Ward...

 _La la, la la la la la la la la la la,_  
 _La la la la, la la la la la la la la la la._

She fallen in love with the traitor.

So when he'd started spouting things about how SHIELD wasn't a good place and how Hydra was going to change the world, Skye had shut it out and blocked him off.

 _You lift_ _my_ _heart_ _up_ _,_ _when_ _the_ _rest_ _of_ _me_ _is down. You,_ _you_ _enchant_ _me_ _,_ _even_ _when_ _you're_ _not_ _around_ _._

She'd been infatuated by Ward for _months_ before he betrayed them. He'd lift her heart up when the rest of her was down and he enchanted her even when he wasn't around.

She was terrified by how she felt about him.

 _If_ _there_ _are_ _boundaries, I_ _will_ _try_ _to_ _knock them down. I'm latching, babe, now I know_ _what_ _I_ _have_ _found._

Skye had done her best to knock down all the boundaries and get to know the real Ward. The Alligator had let her and Skye had latched on to what she'd found, happily being taken away for the ride.

 _(Never) Hush! Don't speak. When_ _you_ _spit_ _your_ _venom, keep_ _it_ _shut, I hate_ _it_ _. When_ _you_ _hiss_ _and_ _preach_ _, about_ _your_ _new Messiah, cause_ _your_ _theories catch fire._

Skye wished Ward would just hush! Stop speaking! She wanted him to keep his mouth shut.

Skye hated it when he hissed and preached about Hydra like it was his God and all his theories where catching fire.

When would it _end_?

 _I can't find_ _your_ _silver lining, I_ _don't_ _mean_ _to_ _judge,_ _but_ _when_ _you_ _read_ _your_ _speech, it's tiring. Enough is enough._

Skye couldn't find Ward's silver lining and she didn't mean to judge, honestly.

However, when Ward read his speeches, it got real tiring and enough was _definitely_ enough.

 _Covering_ _my_ _ears_ _like_ _a_ _kid_ _,_ _when_ _your_ _words mean nothing I_ _go_ _la la la, I'm turning_ _up_ _the_ _volume_ _when_ _you_ _speak. If_ _my_ _heart can't stop_ _it_ _, I find a way_ _to_ _block_ _it_ _, I_ _go_ _._

Skye covered her ears like a kid when Ward's words meant nothing to her.

He would slander the name of SHIELD, he'd scream awful things about Coulson and May and FitzSimmons.

"You'll see one day, Skye! It's those four you have to look out for! You'll see!"

 _La la, la la la la la la la la la la,_  
 _La la la la, la la la la la la la la la la._

Skye covered her ears and screamed in her soundproofed bedroom where no one could hear.

As the screaming dissolved into crying and sobs, she whispered to herself. "La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la."

Her tears came falling hard and fast.

 _La la, la la la la la la la la la la, la la la la, la la la la la la la la la la (_ _never_ _)._

She kept crying, her sobs tearing themselves from her throat.

She curled up on her bed and screamed again.

She swore she could feel blood bubbling up in her mouth because of the volume of her voice, but thanks to the sound proofing of her room, no one could hear her and no one came looking.

 _I'm_ _so_ _en-captured,_ _got_ _me_ _wrapped_ _up_ _in_ _your_ _touch_ _. Feel_ _so_ _enamored, hold_ _me_ _tight_ _within_ _your_ _clutch. How_ _do_ _you_ _do_ _it_ _? You_ _got_ _me_ _losing_ _every breath. What_ _did_ _you_ _give_ _me_ _to_ _make_ _my_ _heart bleed_ _out_ _my_ _chest_ _?_

Skye was en-captured, wrapped up in the touch of a man who meant everything to her, but whom she meant nothing to.

She felt so enamored, held tight inside Ward's clutch. He often hurt her with how hard he'd grip her arms and it physically hurt for her to make love to him.

How in the world did he do it? She was loosing all her breath. What did he give her to make her heart bleed out of her chest?

 _Now I've_ _got_ _you_ _in_ _my_ _space,_ _I won't let_ _go_ _of_ _you_ _. Got_ _you_ _shackled_ _in_ _my_ _embrace, I'm latching_ _on_ _to_ _you_ _(_ _never_ _let_ _go_ _, I won't let_ _go_ _)._

Skye often thought that she was in Ward's space and it turned out she was. He actually liked it. She was shackled in his embrace, scared and unable to get away because he had latched on and wasn't letting go.

He wasn't _ever_ letting go.

 _(I feel we're close enough) I can't find_ _your_ _silver lining, (I wanna lock_ _in_ _your_ _love) I_ _don't_ _mean_ _to_ _judge (I feel we're close enough),_ _but_ _when_ _you_ _read_ _your_ _speech, it's tiring. (I wanna lock_ _in_ _your_ _love) Enough is enough._

Skye watched as Ward was taken into custody with grim satisfaction. She couldn't find his silver lining. Enough was enough.

She'd made her choice.

Skye turned her back on him as his screams echoed around her and walked away.

 _Covering_ _my_ _ears_ _like_ _a_ _kid_ _and_ _I'm latching onto_ _you_ _. La la la la._ _I'm turning_ _up_ _the_ _volume_ _when_ _you_ _speak. If_ _my_ _heart can't stop_ _it_ _, I find a way_ _to_ _block_ _it_ _, I_ _go_ _..._

Skye covered her ears and screamed, again in the soundproofed bedroom she claimed as hers.

Her heart couldn't stop it this time. She cried and screamed and hurt all over again.

"La, la, la, la. La, la, la, la, la, la." She sobbed and whispered.

 _La la. La la la la la la la la la la_  
 _La la la la. La la la la la la la la la la, latching onto._

This time, however, instead of suffering alone, she heard the door open and slowly, Fitz came in and hesitantly placed a hand on her shoulder.

She startled, looking back, but when she realized who it was, she sobbed and latched onto him. He didn't speak a word, but he hadn't since the accident.

Fitz didn't speak, but Skye knew.

So she threw her arms around his neck and sobbed into the younger's shoulder. He didn't speak, not even one word, but he hugged her back and laid his head on her's, his nose in her hair and Skye swore she felt a few tears drop onto her brunette locks.

 _La la. La la la la la la la la la la._  
 _La la la la. La la la la la la la la la la (_ _never_ _)._

Skye knew that one day she'd close the doors on Ward forever and no longer have to scream and cry to block out his words.

But for now, she fell asleep to Fitz running his hand gently over her hair and smoothing the strands into place and brushing them behind her ear.

And hoped tomorrow would be a better day.


	20. Progress

Progress

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

 **Team: Agents of SHIELD**

 **AU: Powers, A/B/O, Hybrid, Adoption(1)**

 _Phil Coulson (32): Beta, Bear Hybrid, superhuman endurance_

 _Melinda May (28): Beta, Panther Hybrid, weapon creation_

 _Alphonso "Mac" Mackenzie (11): Alpha, Gorilla Hybrid, superhuman strength and senses_

 _Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez (11): Omega, Gazelle Hybrid, super speed (snaps back to origin point)_

 _Bobbi Morse (10): Alpha, Fox Hybrid, sonic scream_

 _Lincoln Campbell (9): Alpha, Lion Hybrid, electricity manipulation_

 _Lance Hunter (8): Omega, Mongoose Hybrid, metamorphosis_

 _Daisy Johnson (8): Omega, Butterfly Hybrid, seismic powers_

 _Jemma Simmons (7): Alpha, Tiger Hybrid, biological manipulation_

 _Leo Fitz (7): Omega, Wolf Hybrid, animal mimicry_

If someone had told Melinda May that by the time she was 28, she'd be in charge of not one, not two, not three, but _eight_ small children, she'd never have believed them.

As it was, she was currently shopping for loose fitting hoodies, sweatpants, and hats for a little boy with powers of shapeshifting, their latest ward.

They'd yet to adopt the young child, but the paperwork was in the works, almost complete, and as far as Melinda and her husband Phil where concerned, the child was theirs.

Said little boy, Leopold James Fitz, was currently huddled up against her legs, nodding and shaking his head when asked a question.

"What do you think of this one, honey?" Melinda asked, holding up a pure white hoodie for the seven year old's inspection.

Wide, crystal blue eyes darted up and over the white fabric, then back down and May felt the little boy nodding against her leg.

"Can I get a verbal response this time, Leo? I love hearing your voice." Melinda pleaded.

Leo hesitated, then opened his mouth. "I like it," he murmured, "It seems like it'll fit well and something I would wear often."

Melinda nodded and waved the young lady helping them forward. Handing her the hoodie, Melinda smiled, "This one, as well, please."

The lady smiled back, brightly, and took the hoodie with gentle hands. "Of course, Miss May." The lady quickly left, bumping into absolutely no one as she hurried away.

See, aside from the lady and Melinda and Leo, the store was completely empty.

It was a deal that Phil, lawyer that he was had worked out with the store manager. Melinda came in just before closing with little Leo, stayed in the employee bathrooms until an associate came to tell her that all the people had left, then Melinda had free reign of the store to shop to her satisfaction.

The reason behind it was the same reason that Leo was being adopted.

Leo had a bad track record with people, most of the people he'd known had been manipulators or abusive. Honestly, with exception of his mother (who died in a car crash when Leo was five), no one was kind to Leo before the age of seven.

Melinda continued looking through the racks as she thought about the young boy's past.

 _Adopted~AoS~Adopted~AoS_

Leo's birthright as an Inhuman had been there since he was two and shifted for the first time. Leo's father had been _furious_ when he found out, thinking that Leo's mother had cheated on him, _refusing_ to believe that his bloodline carried dormant Inhuman genes.

Leo had grown up in a hostile home where anything could set his father off on a rampage that could last for minutes, hours, or _days_. His father would hit, scream, punch, kick, and insult Leo until the poor child was in tears, then bring his friends around to laugh with him.

Leo had never known kindness from a man, which was a bad thing for Phil, who wanted nothing more than to be able to comfort the young boy when he was scared.

As a result, Leo struggled with most everyone he came across, afraid that they would suddenly hurt him just as his father and his father's friends had.

Melinda, Alistair Fitz's self-defense trainer, had come to his house to inform him of an early training session the next morning, happened to walk in on a rampage and called the police.

She thought Alistair was just drunk at first and didn't step in because of the risk of making it worse, until she saw him _really_ go after Leo.

Then, it didn't matter if Alistair Fitz was drunk or not, he was harming a kid and Melinda wouldn't accept that.

When the police arrived to find Melinda perched on top of a screaming Alistair with a trembling little boy in her arms and her cell phone in her hand that had recorded the whole thing, the only answer Melinda had for them when asked was, "Leo is innocent."

 _Adopted~AoS~Adopted~AoS_

A tug on the hem of her shirt broke Melinda from her thoughts. She looked down and her onyx eyes met his crystal blue. She knelt down, settling her hand around his small shoulders. _God_ , he's so _young_.

"What's wrong, Leo?" she asked, worry bleeding into her voice.

Leo's small face flushed as he whispered into Melinda's ear, "I have to go."

Melinda nodded. "Alright then, we'll finish here in a moment. Come on."

She led her young adopted child back to the bathrooms. "Do you need anything else, honey?"

Leo flushed again and hesitated.

"Leo?" Melinda knelt down again. "This isn't like your father's rules. You don't have to worry about upsetting me. All you have to do is ask."

Leo sniffled suddenly and opened his mouth, heavy accent getting a little thicker as he spoke. "Will... Will you, uh. Will you stay, stay outside the, um... stay outside the d- The door?"

Melinda hummed softly. "Of course, I will. I'll stay right here, you go on." Melinda opened the door for Leo and waited until he had hesitantly stepped into the room to step into the space beside the door, wedging her foot between the door and the doorway.

"M-Miss Melinda?" Leo called out hesitantly voice shaking.

"I'm right here, honey." Melinda called back soothingly, knocking gently on the door. "I'm here."

She heard Leo's soft sigh, and felt her heart break at the thought that this poor child had been so abused that he was afraid to use the _bathroom_ alone.

Melinda's heart broke a little more when Leo whimpered softly. She began to hum a tune she'd heard on the radio earlier that day.

After a few minutes, she heard a flush and the sink turn on. After a few more heartbeats, Leo called out. "Miss Melinda? I-I'm done."

Melinda opened the door again and held out her hand. "Ready to go back to shopping?"

Leo nodded and grasped her hand tightly in his, back to being shy and mostly silent.

Melinda went back to the racks with Leo holding onto her hand and held up a hat she'd noticed from the bathrooms. "How about this one?"

Leo tilted his head as he examined it, something he did often. Then he nodded and spoke up softly. "Yes."

Melinda paused a moment, under guise of looking over the hat herself and silently cheered for small steps in progress.

She mentally ticked 'speaking without being asked to' off the list of "beginning progress" she'd had in her head and added it to the "making progress" list instead.

With a smile, she gestured the associate over again and held out the hat.

When the associate had scurried off again, Leo slowly detached himself from Melinda's leg and shuffled over to a blue and red cardigan. He hesitantly plucked it from the rack and held it up to Melinda. "Could we... Could we, um... Could we get this, get this one?" he asked softly.

Melinda smiled widely and nodded. "Of course. I think we've gotten enough, why don't we get out of here? Are you ready?"

Leo clutched the cardigan tightly to his chest and nodded. "I'm ready."

The Beta woman held out her hand and Leo took it, letting the elder lead him up to the front desk to pay for all the things they'd bought.

The bags where shoved into the trunk of Melinda's jeep. Leo climbed up into the passenger seat of the black car and settled in quietly.

Melinda slid into the driver's seat and sighed as she started the car.

With a smile, Melinda put her car in park and began backing out of the parking lot. "I'm proud of you, Leo. You're making progress, kiddo. Love you."

Leo smiled back and nodded. "Love you too, Miss-" he paused, "Melinda."

Melinda grinned. _Progress_.

 **(1) Okay, explanation.**

 **There's no SHIELD, but Phil and Melinda met and got married long ago. They adopted Jemma and Daisy first. Then Bobbi, Lance, and Mack. Then Lincoln and Yo-Yo. And finally, Leo.**

 **Jemma's parents died when she was young.**

 **We know Daisy's backstory, so I'll keep it the same here as it is in the show, with the exception of her actually being adopted by Phil and Melinda.**

 **Bobbi's and Mack's parents where friends, they all went on a double date and where killed in a car crash by a drunk driver.**

 **Elena's parents kind of abandoned her by accident when they went off to be missionaries for God and completely forgot to take her, then never came back.**

 **Lance's parents were drug addicts.**

 **Lincoln's parents were killed by a serial arsonist who set their house on fire.**

 **Leo's story is explained in the chapter.**


	21. Fight

Fight

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

 **AU: None**

 **Team: Agents of SHIELD**

 **Can be read as FitzHunter or a platonic friendship.**

Fitz was a pacifist.

A very reserved, shy, nervous, _scared_ pacifist.

Phil knew that when he took the small engineer in. The tawny-haired man knew Fitz wouldn't fight. Not _couldn't,_ wouldn't.

Phil had hoped that being on the team would be good for the smaller man.

Turned out, it was.

The first year was rocky and filled with a lot of holes and betrayal.

The worst part was when Hydra took over SHIELD and tried to kill anyone loyal to SHIELD.

So, after the dust settled and everything was relatively okay again, Phil made a few calls.

He found a man two people willingly vouched for.

Phil immediately knew this was the person he was looking for. He _had_ to have him.

So he had a chat with a few people and secured the operative's location.

It took a week because the operative was still in deep cover, but the moment May said he was up, Phil was there, offering him a job.

He smiled as he accepted, brain matter staining his clothes and blood dripping from his lips.

Lance Hunter was the only operative Phil would entrust Leopold Fitz's training to.

He used to employ Mack to do it, but then Agent Hunter found out.

Phil still remembered that day.

It did go pretty well once Hunter had calmed down.

 _AoS~AoS~AoS_

"Are you sure about this?" asked a Scottish voice as Lance rounded the corner.

He froze for a solid second upon seeing what Mack was showing the younger teen.

"Mack! Oh my God, what are you doing?" Lance called as he snapped out of his daze, running in and swiping the gun from the pasty Scott who must have been the one Coulson had mentioned. "My God, you can't give a kid a gun and expect him to know how to use it! Bloody Hell!"

Lance quickly unloaded the gun, dropping the bullet housed in the chamber and clip in his pocket and tossing the now harmless object on the table.

"What the _Hell_ have you been teaching him? You can't tell him to use his muscles, pick people up and sit on them, mate. He's a tiny, pasty Brit!" Lance snapped at the older male, eyes flashing.

Mack held up his hands and took a step back because he knew this man. Lance could be scary when he was angry.

Lance huffed and stepped back, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply.

He looked at Mack again and nodded. "I'll take over here, Mack. Coulson wanted to see you anyhow."

"Alright. Turbo, you good?" Mack asked of the Scott

"Yeah, fine." the Scot nodded.

Mack left and Lace turned to the younger Scottish man and clapped his hands together. "Okay, first off, introductions. I'm Lance Hunter, you're new training instructor. You must be Leopold Fitz?"

Fitz nodded. "Yes."

Lance grinned, "Great."

Lance pulled the gun clip and bullet from his pocket. "Lesson one, don't ever use one of these until you can hold your own without it. Then, even if you're disarmed, you can still defend yourself.

"Hand-to-hand combat is always a better bet, okay? Let's work on that first." Lance set up a punching dummy and beckoned Fitz over. "Alright, let's first see what you _can_ do."

Lance stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest. "Hit it."

Fitz looked at the Brit in surprise. "What?"

Lance sighed through his nose. "C'mon, mate, I've seen your field reviews, you have to have a least an _idea_ of how to fight. _Hit_ it!"

Fitz flushed and nodded. He studied the target for a solid heartbeat, then lashed out and hit the cool leather.

The punching bag didn't move.

"You've got the right idea, but you need to put more force behind the punch." Lance came over and hovered his hand over Fitz's shoulders. "Alright if I touch you?"

Fitz tensed just slightly, then it bled away and he nodded. "Alright."

Lance set his hands on Fitz's shoulders and pushed down lightly. "Bend at your knees."

Leo obeyed, following Lance's guiding hands until Lance was satisfied with his pose. "Good," Lance took his hands back and held out one. "See your hand, mate?"

Fitz allowed him to take his hand.

Lance guided Fitz's fingers. "When you hit someone, don't tuck in your thumb, that's the quickest way to break or dislocate it. Hit with your top two knuckles first and aim for the soft points above all. You work with Simmons, so I'm guessing you have a good grasp on human anatomy?"

Fitz watched as Lance positioned him and nodded when Lance turned those hazel brown eyes on him.

They really _were_ very nice, Simmons hadn't been joking.

Lance nodded back, then said, "Don't panic, okay? I'm just going around," and came around behind him.

"Hands on your shoulders," Lance said softly, and a warm kind of pressure settled on his right shoulder.

The Brit brought his other arm beside Fitz and pointed to a few different places on the punching back. "Think of it like this, mate. Always look for a person's weak points. Go for the eyes, ears, nose, throat, and private bits, yeah?"

Fitz nodded, flushing pink.

Lance dropped his hand and stepped back, Fitz kind of missed the warmth.

"Try again," Lance said.

Fitz nodded, studied the leather bag for another heartbeat, and lashed out again.

The bag moved just slightly.

Progress.

"Hey, hey! Congratulations, mate. We'll make an Agent out of you yet." Lance grinned.

Fitz smiled brightly and proudly.

He'd never been able to make a punching bag move.

It had a certain thrill to it.

 _AoS~AoS~AoS_

Before too long, Lance had deemed Fitz ready to practice with live targets.

Lance didn't dare pit himself against Fitz for fear that his mercenary instincts would kick in, he wanted Fitz to be fully able to defend himself before going up against the whole of Lance's skills.

Fitz needed someone who would pull punches at first for fear of hurting them.

So, Piper it was.

"Ready?" Lance asked, making eye contact with each of them.

Fitz nodded and Piper smiled as she said, "Ready."

Lance stepped back and nodded.

Piper hit the floor first and came at Fitz with a punch, which the younger ducked and swung back around with an elbow to the ribs.

Lance watched as the pair traded blows, watching Fitz's form and progress.

Fitz was currently on the defensive, weaving backward back and forth to avoid the blows Piper was trying to hit.

The younger man watched Piper with hawk-like laser focus. His eyes roamed over her every couple of hits.

Then he found whatever it was he was looking for and moved in.

If Lance didn't know what to look for, he would've missed it, it went so fast.

Fitz came barreling in under Piper's arm and hit her unprotected side, arms coming up and wrapping around her side as they fell.

When they landed, Fitz had straddled Piper's stomach with a flush on his face and his hands pinning her wrists above her head.

She smiled brightly. "Nice."

"Brilliant." Lance agreed.

Fitz quickly got up and off of Piper, flushing deeper.

He held out a hand and Piper took it, pulling herself to her feet.

Lance came over with a smile and patted both of their shoulders.

"Excellent job, both of you." he praised.

Fitz grinned brightly.

 _AoS~AoS_ ~AoS

Fitz was finally learning how to shoot a gun today, but his head wasn't really in it.

With the whole Skye situation and him keeping it from the rest of the team, he was understandably nervous about it.

Lance was one of the few, aside from Mack and Jemma, that he didn't really want to have to lie to, but with the way everyone was acting what choice did he have?

Hell, Jemma was just talking about putting Raina down like she was an animal.

Could they not see that all of this fighting was useless?

Lance came bustling in with a huff and a frown, eyes brightening when he noticed that Fitz was already there. "There you are. Ready to start?"

Fitz nodded, "Ready."

Lance loaded the gun, keeping the practiced moves slowly and steady, showing Fitz exactly what he was doing.

"This is called the magazine, you'll slide that in here. This is the chamber, pull back on that, yeah? Good. Now the gun is loaded and ready to fire. Be very careful when handling a loaded gun, okay? Dangerous things they are. Kind of like Bobbi." Lance let out an aggravated sigh and handed the gun to Fitz.

Fitz took the cold metal and turned it over in his hand. He knew his way around a gun, despite his aversion to them. It was easy for him to load and reload. Or it was until his accident.

This was just a relearning opportunity. One it would seem he needed.

So, Fitz pointed the gun at the target and nodded. "What next?"

Lance came up behind him again, "Don't panic, it's just me, alright. Okay if I touch you?"

Lance asked Fitz if it was okay to touch him just like he had every time before he would give any sort of physical contact.

It was endearing and lovely and Fitz loved that Lance respected and understood him enough to ask.

So Fitz had no trouble nodding and replying, "Yeah."

Lance set a gentle hand on Fitz's shoulder and his other hand began pointing to the target. "Imagine it's a person, yeah? Remember where to hit for hand-to-hand combat?"

"Always aim for the soft parts; eyes, ears, nose, throat." Fitz recited.

Lance chuckled. "Good. When using a gun, aim for center mass until you've got better experience. Now, center mass is the largest part of the target, the torso and chest, right? Aim for those."

Fitz nodded and took aim.

Lance took a step over and hummed, "Both eyes open."

Fitz complied, readjusting his grip.

Lance nodded. "Alright, good. Fire when you're ready."

It took Fitz several tries to manage to even hit the target where it usually would've taken him three at the most.

"Your head isn't in this, mate." Lance hummed, arms crossed.

He stood a few feet away, watching with the headphones that had been shielding his ears around his neck and the eye protection on.

"I know," Fitz replied. "I'm just... I'm just, um..." Fitz snapped his fingers, frustrated with this backside of progress.

Lance waited patiently for him to find the word.

"Worried!" came tumbling suddenly out of the youngers mouth, "Worried about Skye." Fitz gently set down the gun, cautious of a misfire.

Lance nodded. "I understand. Well, what are you worried about? What's going to happen now?"

"Yes, but also what's going to happen between my-myself and the others."

"You don't have to worry about me, Fitz. I'm always going to be around for you. Even if I don't work for SHIELD anymore, you've got my number, yeah? You can ring me and I'll talk for as long as you need." Lance smiled, offering a hand. "Is it alright if I give you a hug?"

Fitz, not being a very physical person, decided to allow it, and nodded.

Lance gently pulled him into a hug and Fitz hesitantly returned it. "Thanks, Lance."

"No worries, mate." Lance pulled back, "Want to keep going or are you good here for the day?"

"Could we just go play a video game?" Fitz asked shyly.

Lance grinned, "Sure, Fitz."

They didn't speak again until after Lance had thoroughly and completely been thrashed by his younger friend.

Fitz had glanced up minutely and spoken, "You can call me Leopold. Or Leo, if you'd like."

Lance's slow and gentle smile and nod was the only indication had heard.

 _AoS~AoS~AoS_

"Fitz, you're amazing, can we meet up?" Cousin asked.

Lance watched curiously as Leo glanced back to the door where faint knocking was heard.

" _Uh... I'm being followed. They won't grab me._ " Leo replied, looking back at them. " _I think they're hoping I'll lead them to you first._ "

And Lance's breath caught in his throat because Leo wasn't trained in getting out of these kinds of situations. Lance hadn't gotten to that before he'd been knocked unconscious by Mack and dragged to God knows where.

" _The thing is, would it still be okay if I came and hung out with you?_ "

And, _Go_ d, what a question that was. Lance mentally pleaded with Coulson to say yes. This was _Leo_ they were talking about.

" _Maybe you could show me how to shake a tail?_ "

Lance was already nodding before Leo had even finished the question. Naturally, he'd show him. That was supposed to be their next lesson.

" _Maybe you could start, like,_ now?" Leo sounded close to tears.

Lance looked back at Coulson and pleaded silently for him to say yes.

Leo didn't know what to do, Leo was still kind of fragile when it came to dealing with other people. Leo wasn't supposed to be in the field until Lance had signed off on the papers saying he thought Leo was ready.

And Leo, proven when he turned back to the door and subtly wiped away a few tears, was _not_ ready.

Coulson looked back at Lance and nodded, _go._

Lance immediately took charge of the situation, asking, "You in a bathroom? With one of those electric hand dryers?"

Leo looked around, " _Um,_ " and spotted it, _"Oh, yes,_ " he smiled slightly, hand drifting over to point at something off-screen.

Lance chuckled softly, "You're gonna be okay, Leo." he murmured, voice soft at the edges and kinder than he'd been with anyone since Isabelle died.

Leo grinned wide and Lance continued telling him what to do.

When Leo had shaken his tails and finally joined them in their hide-out, Lance met him at the front steps.

Leo's face brightened when he caught sight of his trainer. "Hey!"

Lance grinned, "You did well. Our next lesson was actually going to be how to get rid of someone following you. I'm proud."

Leo's smile widened. "Thank you for being such a good trainer."

Then, surprisingly, he leaned over and tugged Lance into a hug. "Thank you for looking after me," he whispered.

Lance smiled and hugged his friend back tightly. "No problem, Leo."

And if, when they returned to normal (or what constituted as normal for the team), Lance and Fitz were a little more tactile with each other, then no one mentioned it.


	22. Asphyxiation

Asphyxiation

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

 **Team: Agents of SHIELD**

 **AU: Alpha/Beta/Omega, Hybrid, Teen**

Lance had walked up to Mack fully expecting, and preparing for, a fight.

As he listed off the things he knew (the flash drive, Coulson's unwitting obliviousness to it, Bobbi's randomized phone calls at all hours of the night, that _fucking_ 'support group'), Lance was fully prepared to have to fight his friend- could he _really_ call Mack a friend after this?- and even prepared to start it.

When Mack had begun speaking, Lance had fractionally relaxed and Mack had used that moment of unguarded attention to attack.

Now, any Omega will tell you that when fighting off unwanted advances, you always go for the eyes, ears, mouth, throat, and groin, but Hunter didn't even get _that_ chance.

It felt like that time he, Izzy, and Idaho were messing around, making fake harassment comments about Izzy's breasts and rear.

They'd only been messing about, Lance had a lot more respect for woman, _especially_ this woman, and Idaho would sooner shoot himself in the crotch than harm Izzy, but a pair of men in the street had thought they were actually harassing Isabelle.

 _AoS~AoS~AoS_

They'd subdued the Beta (Idaho) first, using Alpha strength to keep his arms pinned behind his back while one of them put Lance into a kind of headlock.

With the Alpha's arms looped under his and his fingers interlocked behind Lance's head, the Omega was completely and utterly defenseless.

"Are you alright, miss?" the Alpha asked, voice full of pride and smug amusement.

Lance couldn't hear the reply Izzy spat into the man's face, his mind's hyper-fixation on the scent coming off this man of _Alpha, Alpha, Alpha_ and he was sure he could make it into any Alpha's wet dreams; pliant and submissive in the man's arms, eyes dilated, scent spiked.

He was suddenly dropped and the comforting scent of Idaho washed over him (mostly copper and steel, but with an underlay of aged whiskey), not overpowering but there.

Lance pulled slowly from the Drop, catching bits and pieces of Izzy ripping into the Alpha properly.

"- you _fucking_ dumbass." Izzy snarled, a growl rising from her throat.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't scent him-"

Izzy cut the man off with another growl, "Bull _shit_ you couldn't scent him, I'm not even Alpha and I could smell him from a mile off! He isn't on suppressants! He doesn't wear scent blockers!"

Lance tuned it out again as Idaho began stroking him right behind his ears, murmuring something soothing and calm.

"You're damn right it won't happen again. You could've sent him into a Drop **(1)."** Izzy took three steps back and pointed to the streets, "Get out of here, asshole. Don't let me see you again."

The pair ran off and Lance's head finally cleared up. He groaned, sitting up and placing a hand on his head. "What the Hell happened?"

Idaho offered him a hand and a smile, "It's alright Lance. You're going to be fine." Lance took the hand and Idaho pulled him to his feet, "He's gone now"

 _AoS~AoS~AoS_

Lance was startled out of the memory by the tightening of Mack's arm around his throat.

As he struggled to get air into his burning lungs, he remembered something Fitz had once said about getting out of chokeholds. He scrambled to try and implement it, but suddenly there was a presence in his head. _Calm down, Amadeus. It's all going to be okay._

The voice sounded suspiciously like Idaho that one time Lance had gone into Heat during a mission.

Idaho had booked them a hotel and helped him through it, saying that exact thing when Lance had panicked, thinking that Coulson would turn him away.

When they'd gotten back after Lance's eight days, and a half-day recovery because Heats where always worse without Alphas, Coulson asked Lance again if he wanted to go on the Omega safe suppressants.

Lance hadn't responded well to that particular question.

 _AoS~AoS~AoS_

"Hunter, the next time this happens, we may not be able to have Idaho or Hartley come and help you out. If you go on suppressants, it'll save us all the trouble." Coulson explained.

"No. I've seen what you're little blue pills can do when they're taken for too long." Lance's eyes flashed dangerously.

Coulson sighed, "You can't take Fitz's allergic reaction as law, it isn't anyone or anything's fault he developed an allergy."

Lance chuckled humorlessly and scoffed, "If you want me to take the suppressants, sir, you'll have to sedate me and force them down my throat."

Coulson opened his mouth, hesitated, closed his mouth, and sighed. "Alright, then Agent Hunter. Dismissed."

Lance smiled, knowing the battle to be over.

 _AoS~AoS~AoS_

It was getting dark. Or maybe that was hypoxia.

 _God,_ he loved Fitz, he did, the younger boy was a quick learner and Lance had never had such a great student, but he didn't want to have the struggles Leo dealt with. He didn't want the frustration that Fitz did.

Just before he passed out, Lance felt the presence in his head again, whispering into his mind, _You're going to be alright, Lance._

What Hartley had murmured to him as she and Idaho had pulled him to his feet after the other two had run off, what she'd whispered to him when he'd begged her to Headspace him that night.

Another whisper, _Sleep. Go to sleep, Lance. You'll be alright._

The words Bobbi had whispered right before he'd passed out that time he'd followed Bobbi back to SHIELD and gotten himself shot in the leg.

She'd stayed with him that night and was gone in the morning with a kiss on his lips and money for a hospital payment in his pocket.

Lance's world went completely dark as a last thought fluttered to the forefront of his mind, _It's going to be alright, Lance. Go to sleep. I'll come back soon._

 **(1) A Drop is what it's called when Alphas/Omegas are put into Headspace in an unfriendly environment, with someone they don't trust. In the olden times, people could be punished by death if they put an Alpha/Omega through a Drop.**


	23. Loss

Loss

By: AndiKaneUnderwood

 **Team: Avengers**

 **AU: A/B/O, Hybrid**

 _Steve Rogers: Alpha (_ _no_ _quirk), Buffalo Hybrid_

 _Antonia "Toni" Stark: Omega (_ _no_ _quirk), Beaver Hybrid_

 _Thor: Asgardian Alpha (control of thunder and lightning), Badger Hybrid_

 _Beth Banner: Omega (the Hulk_ _), Bee Hybrid_

 _Natasha Romanoff: Alpha (extreme endurance and agility), Cat Hybrid_

 _Clint Barton: Omega (Accuracy Enhancement,_ _extreme_ _agility), Cougar Hybrid_

 _Wanda Maximoff: Alpha (her wisps/mind powers/whatever you'd call it), Butterfly Hybrid_

 _Pietro Maximoff: Omega (his speed, intelligence, resourcefulness), Hummingbird Hybrid_

 _Peter Parker: Omega (spiderlike abilities, intelligence, healing factor), Crow Hybrid_

Clint Barton was quite acquainted with loss.

He knew what it felt like to lose something important to you.

Probably better than most people did.

When he was 4, he lost his hearing to an accident.

( _He faintly remembered being able to hear without the aides, but it was a distant memory. Nothing more._ )

When he was about 6, he lost his parents to a drunk driver and a crash.

 _(He still remembered the policemen knocking on the door, him rushing to open it, thinking it to be his mother.)_

When he was almost 9, he lost his brother to whiskey and cigarettes.

( _"You're never going to be anything more than my stupid, mouthy, kid brother. Get outta here, Clint."_ )

When he was roughly 11, he lost his only remaining family because he wasn't fast enough to catch up.

( _He hasn't been wearing his hearing aids. He hadn't heard the train whistle. His old knives were all he had left._ )

After three months on the streets, he picked the pocket of Phillip Could in, an agent of SHIELD who gave him a home and became his handler.

When he was about to turn 12, he met his SoulMate on an operation.

Her name was Natasha. She was a Russian spy in a program with the Red Room.

She defected from them to make sure she was able to keep Clint alive and safe.

He spent two more years learning how to be friends, learning how to function as a partner and as an individual.

One of the worst missions they'd been on was Budapest.

When Natasha almost lost Clint.

The first time Clint nearly lost his life, he was 13 and had a bow and arrow in his hand. His knife was not in his boot, having been buried in an enemy's thigh when they got to close for comfort. The gun on his hip had been long since surrendered to Natasha when her first got busted and her backup was lost to enemy hands.

Clint knows what it feels like to lose everything. It reminded him that nothing is permanent.

But it also reminded him that SoulMates are forever.

So, don't talk to Clint about loss. You can come to him and complain, he wouldn't care about that, but don't dare come to talk about your losses with him with a pity plea on your lips.

He's lost and regained far too much to want _any_ kind of pity in his life.

It wasn't the first time that Natasha was laying in a hospital bed because of a mark. It wasn't the first time she'd slipped into a catatonic state because of her injuries. It wasn't the first time Clint was pacing the hospital waiting room floor because he was so worried. It wasn't the first time he almost lost her.

But it was the first time it was his fault.

And now, Natasha was paying the price.

 _Avengers~Avengers~Avengers_

Clint was in the training room, destroying another punching bag.

Each hit against the bag, he imagined being that smug asshole who'd ordered Natasha to be tortured.

It was his fault Natasha was in that hospital bed.

Clint continued hitting the bag, pictures flashing before his eyes.

 _"Clint, no!"_

 _Natasha had tackled him._

 _"Alpha, please!"_

 _Natasha tied to a chair, a cut above her eyebrow, her lowcut shirt covered in blood from a wound that ran parallel to her collar bones._

 _"Ne govori im nichego."_

 _Clint crying out as she was taken away from him._

Clint yelled as the punching bag came off its chain and landed several feet away. He fell to his knees, then tucked his knees to his chest and curled up into a tight ball, tears beginning to cascade down his cheeks.

This felt like a panic attack. He didn't really know.

He couldn't breathe, but he wasn't hyperventilating. He was shaking, but not violently. He didn't know, he didn't know.

The world around him was too loud, but he couldn't do anything about it without exposing himself to the somehow too-bright lights of the training.

When he mercifully passed out, he wasn't even aware of someone calling his name.

 _Avenger~Avengers~Avengers_

When Clint came back to consciousness, he was aware of very few things. He was aware of how soft the ground beneath him was and how he wasn't lying in the training room anymore, but on a bed.

It was warm and bright, but he couldn't hear, so someone had removed his hearing aids.

He was also lying with another person, which freaked him out more than anything because he never wanted to cheat on his redheaded Russian. He'd been worried about it since he began randomly losing time on missions.

(Said redheaded Russian would always reassure him that she knew exactly where he was when he lost time during those missions. He shouldn't worry so much, she had him covered. He believed her every time, but that didn't stop the fear from worming its way into his heart.)

"Clint. I know you're awake." spoke up a soft voice, a _familiar_ voice.

"Nat." he breathed, turning over to face the person attached to the voice.

Her emerald eyes were fixed on him.

His eyes filled with tears. "Nat."

Voice cracking and eyes overflowing, he pulled her closer and buried his head against her collarbones. She wrapped her arms around him in return and stroked her fingers through his hair. "I'm here, _dorogoy._ I'm right here."

When he'd cried himself out and lay there sniffling softly, Natasha spoke up, "Don't blame yourself."

Clint shook his head, "It was my fault you got hurt."

"No." Natasha never spoke in a voice above a murmur, but she still commanded his absolute attention. "Remember, I'm the one who told you not to say a word. That was a command, Clint, and you followed it perfectly."

Clint's entire face lit up with a pleading look, "You- You commanded me?"

Nat nodded, "It was the only way to ensure the safety of our cover."

Clint wanted to be angry with her, but he didn't have the energy. Instead, he cuddled closer and sighed, "I thought I'd lost you."

Nat hummed softly, "Never."

And Clint, just like every time, believed her.


End file.
